HOME OPENER: Rensselaer begins its 2014-15 home schedule on Sunday, when it faces Berkeley College (NY) at East Campus Arena (3pm).

RENSSELAER FALLS AT WPI: Sam Longwell led all scorers with 20 points to lead nationally-ranked WPI to a 66-55 victory over visiting Rensselaer on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Auditorium ... The two teams traded buckets until RPI's Josh Dugas snapped a 4-4 tie with a trifecta at 16:48. The host Engineers looked to even it back up but Clyde Niba's triple caromed off the cylinder and the shot clock prior to the dead ball whistle ... RPI continuted a 7-0 run before Chris Rodgers halted it with a layup at 14:49 ... Troy's Engineers pushed their lead out to eight following a layup by Asa Barnhill the intermission ... Sixteen seconds later, Zach Karalis ignited an 8-2 outburst, which was capped off by Longwell's milestone dunk to pull the hosts within a pair ... Longwell followed it up with a 3-pointer to give WPI the 21-20 advantage with 7:33 left in the frame ... The Crimson and Gray then closed out the half on a 14-4 run, highlighted by five more by Longwell and a pair of layups by Niba ... Through the first eight minutes of the second half, WPI increased its lead to 16 following a layup by Aaron Todd and a 3-pointer by Karalis. With 11:37 left to play, Karalis sank a pair of freebies for an 18-point WPI cushion. Jonathan Luster and Brian Hatcher brought the visiting Engineers within 14 midway through the half courtesy of a free throw and a triple, respectively ... Later in the frame, Obi Obiora's personal 4-0 run increased the hosts advantage back to 18 with 7:37 to play ... Just over 30 seconds later, an old fashioned three-point play by Chase Almond cut RPI's deficit to 15 ... The visitors eventually pulled within 10 with a Hatcher free throw as 3:09 showed on the scoreboard. WPI scored six of the final 11 points for the 66-55 final ... Longwell, who shot 7-for-13 from the floor and was 4-for-4 at the charity stripe, added a team-best six boards while Obiora finished with 12 points and five rebounds ... Karalis chipped in with 11 points as Sean Doncaster and Niba each pulled down four defensive caroms ... Tyler Gendron was a pair of rebounds shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds while Almond paced RPI with 13 points and added six boards. Hatcher also scored 10 points to go along with seven rebounds ... Luster doled out a game-high six helpers.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live statistics for Tuesday's action – and all Rensselaer home games – can be followed at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/mbb.

BERKELEY TOPS MAINE-MACHIAS: Berkeley bounced back in a big way after suffering a tough two-point loss in their opener against Southern Maine Community College by downing the University of Maine-Machias by a score of 100-65 on Sunday ... Five players scored in double figures, with junior guard  Keenan Langston and senior guard Kenton Chan-Man leading the way with 22 points apiece ... Sophomore guard Massiah Merritt provided a spark off the bench, scoring 18 points, including four three-pointers, and dishing a team-high seven assists ... Berkeley held a slim 7-6 lead with 14:27 to play, but then proceed to outscore the Clippers 31-8 over the next 11 minutes to take a 38-14 lead with Chan-Man leading the charge with 13 points ... Maine-Machias would close out the first half with a 15-7 run to cut the Knights' lead to 16 - 45-29 ... In the opening stages of the second stanza, the Clippers continued to chip away at the Knights' lead, eventually pulling to within 10 – 47-37 – with 17:29 remaining in regulation ... Berkeley settled down from there, however, as a 7-0 Knights run (capped off by a three-point basket by Merritt) who push Berkeley's lead back up to 17 at 54-37, and Maine-Machias would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way ... The Knights' superb defensive tenacity limited the Clippers to just 35 percent shooting from the field while forcing 21 turnovers ... Maine-Machias was paced by Antwan Ruise' 14 points, and Brandon Blakely chipped in with 12 points.