ALBANY, N.Y. – Senior Jeremy Bull's pick-off and ensuing layup with 23 seconds left gave the Engineers a two-point lead and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team held on for a 69-67 victory over New Jersey City University in non-conference action at the Times Union Center. With the win, RPI moves to 6-2 on the season, while the Gothic Knights drop to 3-5 overall.

Stealing away the ball with the tip of his fingers, Bull (Woodbridge, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes) took it the other way for a layup. He was fouled on the play and went to the line to give RPI a 68-65 lead, its largest of the night. New Jersey City missed its next shot and had to foul, putting DJ Blakemore (Bloomfield Township, MI/Lahser) on the line, who made one of two and the Engineers held on for the win.

Rensselaer entered the second half facing a 31-28 deficit, but was able to battle back as senior Travis Jones (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) nailed a pair of three-pointers and sank a follow-up jumper to give the Engineers a 39-37 lead with 16:18 remaining.

It was a back and forth battle over the next two minutes, but New Jersey City began to pull away as junior Keith Williams (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) sank a pair of free throws following an intentional foul to make it a 45-41. The Gothic Knights continued to cruise, going up by seven (56-49) on a layup by Josh Hosang (Hackensack, NJ/Palm Beach Central), but RPI battled back on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to one (56-55) with 7:01 remaining in the contest. 

The Engineers, who shot 54.5% from three-point range in the second half, relied on their shots from the arc to keep them in it as Blakemore nailed the team's seventh shot from outside at 4:34 to make it a 60-58 game. Never trailing by more than two, RPI tied it with 48 seconds left on a pair of free throws by junior Matthew Pooley (Middletown, NY/Chapel Field Christian School) to set up the drama by Bull seconds later.

Leading the way for the Engineers was Pooley, who scored 13 points on 4 of 4 shooting with three assists and three steals. Blakemore added 12 points, going 4 of 8 from the floor, while Jones added 10 points, including a game-best three shots from beyond the arc.

For the Gothic Knights, Hosang posted a game-best 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Junior Dashawn Eagle (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) added 10 points and a game-best two blocks, while sophomore Isaiah Johnson (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) had eight points.

The Engineers are now idle for the holiday break, but are back on the court on January 2 in a road contest against Middlebury College (4pm). RPI then hosts Stevens Institute of Technology at East Campus Arena on January 3 (7pm). Live stats for the home game can be found at http://www.rpiathletics.com/livestats, while a live pay-per-view webcast will be available at http://www.rpiathletics.com/webcasts. The Gothic Knights are back in action on Friday, traveling to Alvernia for a 7:30pm contest.