Box Score
Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore DJ Blakemore (Bloomfield Township, MI/Lahser) scored a career-high 19 points to help the Rensselaer men's basketball to a 78-72 victory over St. Lawrence University, at Robison Gym. With the win, the Red Hawks improve to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the Liberty League. The Saints move to 10-4 and 3-1 in league play.

Joining Blakemore in double-figures were seniors Sam Simmons (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) and Tim Rupp (Staten Island, NY/Curtis), who had 17 and 16 points, respectively. Simmons added 10 rebounds for the double-double, while Rupp dished out a team-best three assists.

The Saints jumped out to an early 8-4 lead on a pair of three-pointers from seniors Tom Wopperer (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Richard Williams (Kingston, NY/Kingston) in the first three minutes.

A Blakemore jumper, just under seven minutes in, cut the St. Lawrence advantage to 13-12. The Saints continued to hold on to a small edge until a Rupp three-pointer with 7:43 remaining in the first, gave Rensselaer its first lead of the game at 21-20.

The Red Hawks expanded the lead to their largest of the half at 36-28 on a pair of Blakemore free throws with a minute to go. Wopperer then hit one of his game-high five threes to cut the RPI advantage to 36-31 at the break.

Leading 45-40, less than five minutes into the second, Rensselaer went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:30 to push its advantage to 12 (52-40). The Saints closed the gap over the next six minutes, eventually tying the game at 59 on another three from Wopperer.

Simmons quickly answered with a bucket for RPI to regain the lead at 61-59. Blakemore made it 67-61 on a lay-up with just over four minutes remaining. With the Saints trailing 71-62 and under three minutes to go, Wopperer scored eight points in a row for the Saints, including a pair of triples to pull within 74-70 with 33 seconds left.

A trip to the line by RPI sophomore Mike Brion (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) yielded two points and a six point cushion, which was enough to secure the victory.

Wopperer finished with a game-high 25 points on 10 of 22 shooting, including 5 of 13 from beyond the arc. Freshman Garrett Sharlow (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Williams had 11 points and seven boards.

The Red Hawks host Clarkson tomorrow afternoon at Robison Gym (4pm), while the Saints travel to Poughkeepsie to take on Vassar (4pm).