Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Senior guard Matthew Pooley equaled a career-high 27 points to lead the Rensselaer men's basketball team to an, 87-81, victory over Liberty League foe Hobart, at East Campus Arena. With the win, the Engineers improve to 8-9 overall (5-4 Liberty League), while the Statesmen drop to 13-3 (6-1 Liberty League).

Pooley (Middletown, NY/Chapel Field Christian School) matched his career-high in points, which he set last Tuesday against Vassar, on 11 of 18 shooting, including 4 of 8 from three-point range.

The Statesmen jumped out to an early 19-13 lead on a three-pointer by junior Rezin Davis (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville), less than six minutes into the contest. A Pooley triple with 11:09 left in the first, brought the hosts to within 20-17, but a 7-0 run by Hobart gave the Statesmen their largest lead of the night (27-17).

From there, the Engineers began to chip away, as a three by junior Brendan Farley (Burlington, MA/Burlington) and a bucket inside by classmate Redon Qello (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) trimmed the Hobart advantage to 29-26 with 8:32 remaining in the first half.

Rensselaer freshman Josh Dugas (Monroe, CT/St. Luke's) evened the score at 31-31 with a three-pointer, before senior captain Matt Dixon (Troy, NY/Tamarac) drilled one from long range to give the Engineers a lead they would not relinquish (36-33).

The Engineers closed out the first half on an 11-6 run for a 47-39 lead at the half.

A Pooley three midway through the second half, gave the hosts a 13 point lead (66-53), which grew to 15 (74-59) on a jumper by Pooley with 6:52 to go. The Statesmen then ran off seven straight points to draw within 74-66.

After free throws from Dixon and junior guard Jamie Zajac (Merrimack, NH/Bishop Guertin) extended the RPI lead to 79-70, Rezin, sophomore Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, NY/St. John the Baptist) and junior Stefan Thompson (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) each contributed a pair of points to a 6-0 run, to pull to within three (79-76).

That was as close as the Statesmen would come as the Engineers were able to hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Aiding Pooley offensively was junior Daniel Martin (Cohasset, MA/Cohasset), who finished with 13 points and two rebounds. Qello ended up with 12 points and seven boards.

Hobart was led by 22 points each from Gibbons and Thompson, while Davis notched 16 points. Sophomore Richie Bonney (Norwich, NY/Norwich) also finished in double-figures netting 11.

The Engineers return to the court tomorrow afternoon, when the travel to Schenectady to face area-rival Union (4pm). Hobart is at Skidmore tomorrow (4pm).