TROY, N.Y. – Led by 14-point efforts from seniors Travis Jones and DJ Blakemore, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team defeated Clarkson University, 66-60 in Liberty League action at East Campus Arena. With the victory, the Engineers move to 8-4 overall with a 2-0 mark in conference action. The Knights slip to 8-5 on the season and 0-2 in the Liberty League.

Trailing 34-30 after a close first half of action, Rensselaer began to mount a comeback as Blakemore (Bloomfield Township, MI/Lahser) hit a jumper and Jones (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) nailed back-to-back layups to give the Engineers a two-point (36-34) advantage with 17:07 left to play.

RPI led by as many as six (44-38) behind another jumper from Jones, but the Golden Knights began to chip away as senior Rey Jefferson (Budd Lake, NJ/Morristown Beard) sank a three-pointer and sophomore David Cieri (Oneida, NY/Oneida) capitalized on a layup seconds later to make it a 50-49 lead for the visitors with 9:36 remaining.

The two teams traded buckets over the next three minutes with neither squad holding more than a two-point advantage. A shot beyond the arc from Jones and an ensuing jumper by Blakemore gave the Engineers a four-point lead (62-58) with 2:16 left. 

Freshman Marques Charlton (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) made things interesting with 45 seconds left as he cashed in on a layup in the paint to make it a two-point advantage for RPI (62-60), but the Engineers held strong and benefited from free throw makes from junior Matthew Pooley (Middletown, NY/Chapel Field Christian School) and senior Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes School) down the stretch to secure the win.

It was a close game to open the first half as the teams traded buckets on each end to keep things tight. RPI began to pull away at 9:36 as senior Mike Brion (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) sank a three to give the home team a five-point lead (20-15). Clarkson battled back and took the lead minutes later as junior Felix Llanos (Queens, NY/Holy Cross) buried a three-pointer of his own.

The Golden Knights held a four-point lead (29-25) with 2:03 remaining and though the Engineers battle back, rookie Pat Mott (Moravia, NY/Moravia) sank a three-pointer as time expired for the 34-30 halftime lead.

Leading the way for Rensselaer were Blakemore and Jones, who each had 14 points. Blakemore was 3 of 4 from the free throw line, while Jones was 5 of 11 from the field with two three-pointers. Sophomore Dan Martin (Cohasset, MA/Cohasset) chipped in with a game-best 13 rebounds.

For the Golden Knights, Jefferson had 13 points, while Llanos added 11 points and seven rebounds. Senior Shawn Lasalita (San Diego, CA/Francis Parker) also added 11 points with three assists.

RPI is back on the court on Tuesday with a game at Vassar (8pm). They return home on Friday and Saturday, hosting Hamilton (8pm) and Hobart (6pm), respectively. The Golden Knights welcome Skidmore and Union to Potsdam on Friday (8pm) and Saturday (4pm).