Box Score
Box Score

Canton, NY—Rensselaer's Sam Simmons and Tim Rupp combined for 25 points to pace the third-seeded Rensselaer Red Hawks to a 64-55 win over No. 2 Hamilton College Friday evening in the first of two semifinal games in the 2009 Liberty League Tournament, hosted by St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.

The Red Hawks (14-12) advances to the conference title game, where they face top-seeded St. Lawrence at 3pm. The Liberty League champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week. Hamilton falls to 18-7 on the season with the loss. 

Hamilton built a five-point edge over the Red Hawks early on, but Rensselaer came back and kept it a one-possession game until taking a 16-15 lead with 7:41 to play in the first. The game continued to remain close, but Rensselaer never gave up their edge over Hamilton despite a tough full-court press on the part of the Continentals. RPI scored 18 of their points in the paint in the opening frame while containing Hamilton to just 10.

Rensselaer never relinquished their lead in the remaining 20 minutes of action, although, Hamilton did tie things up 29-29 with 16:04 to go in the contest. The Red Hawks earned a seven-point edge over the Continentals with 9:09 to play, marking the first time in the entire contest that either squad earned more than a two-possession advantage. From there, Hamilton played catch-up, coming as close as four points before RPI earned another double-digit lead down the stretch to advance to the Liberty League championship with the 64-55 win over the Continentals.

In addition to Simmons and Rupp, teammate Ricky Philatre reached double-digits, scoring 10 points. Hamilton was led by Lance Wilson, who knocked in 17, while Patrick Sullivan added 11 and Harlee Wood chipped in 10. 

Championship game coverage is available at http://www.stlawu.edu/sports/m_hoop/2008-09/libertyleague.html.