Box Score

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Senior Jeremy Bull came off the bench to lead five players in double digits, scoring 24 points as the Rensselaer men's basketball team defeated Southern Vermont, 96-92 in overtime, in the first round of the Tri-State Shootout at MCLA. RPI improves to 4-1, while SVC is now 4-3.

Bull (Woodbridge, VA / St. Stephens & St. Agnes School) made 6 of 10 shots from the floor, including the only three-pointer he attempted, and 11 of 15 free throws to lead the Engineers.  He also had four rebounds, an assist and four steals in 27 minutes in the game, which featured eight ties.

RPI tied the game with 28 seconds left in regulation when Jamie Zajac (Merrimack, NH / Bishop Guertin) knocked home a pair of free throws to knot the game at 81 apiece. In overtime, RPI wore down SVC as the Mountaineers had five players, including four starters, foul out.

Following the last tied score, 83-83 at 4:21 of overtime, RPI went on a 13-9 run to close out the contest.  Six different Engineers scored in that span, including two points from Bull and a three-pointer from Matt Dixon (Troy, NY / Tamarac).

In addition to Bull, others from Rensselaer with double digits in scoring were Matthew Pooley (Middletown, NY / Chapel Field Christian School), who had 15 points, Travis Jones (East Greenbush, NY / Columbia), who scored 13 points, Mike Hammond (Clifton Park, NY / Shenendehowa), who came back from an injury to score 11 points, and Jeremy Moylan (Monroe, NY / Monroe-Woodbury), who had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Engineers, who led by as many as 11 points in the second half, played without four regulars (Mike Brion, Dan Martin, Joe Gibbons & Andrew Darst), who were out of the lineup due to injury.  They advance to Saturday's championship game against MCLA looking for their second consecutive tournament title.  Tip off is 3:30pm.

For Southern Vermont, Taeshon Johnson led all scorers with 26 points on 10 for 15 shooting from the floor.  Ben Naaktgeboren added 20 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for the Mountaineers.  They play St. Joseph's on Saturday at 1:30pm.