TROY, N.Y. – Senior Hayden Rooke-Ley scored 31 of his season-high 43 points in the first half, to lead the Williams College men's basketball team to an 86-69 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), this evening in non-league action at East Campus Arena. With the win, the Ephs improve to 6-2 overall, while the Engineers drop to 1-4.

Both teams came out firing in the opening seven minutes. Junior Tyler Gendron (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) scored seven early points, including a 25-foot three to give hosts an 11-6 lead, just 3:28 into the game. A Kane triple pushed the advantage to 14-9 at the five minute mark of the opening half.

The Ephs surged ahead, 26-20, at the 9:47 mark, thanks to 5 of 7 shooting from distance. Rooke-Ley (Eugene, OR/South Eugene) notched 13 early points on 5 of 5 shooting, including 3 of 3 on three-pointers.

A fourth three by Rooke-Ley gave the visitors a 29-24 with 8:59 remaining in the first half. Gendron answered with a baseline jumper and spot-up shot in the lane to draw within one (29-28). That was as close as the Engineers would get the rest of the way, as Rooke-Ley drilled his fifth triple on the ensuing possession, to regain the four-point advantage.

Three more long-range shots from Rooke-Ley pushed the Williams lead to 45-31 with 4:12 remaining in the opening stanza. He connected on 11 of 15 shots from the floor in the opening stanza, including 9 of 11 three-pointers, to give the visitors a 56-39 lead at the break. As a team, the Ephs made 67.7% (21 of 31) of their shots in the first half, including 73.3% (11 of 15) of their threes.

RPI drew to within 15 points on a few occasions early in the second half, including 66-51 on a lay-up by junior Brian Hatcher (Danbury, CT/Immaculate) with 13:21 remaining.

Back-to-back triples from senior captain Josh Dugas (Monroe, CT/St. Luke's) and Hatcher made it an 11-point game (68-57), with 11:05 to go.

The Ephs answered with a 7-0 run, which was capped by a jump shot by sophomore Daniel Aronowitz (Columbus, OH/Columbus Academy) with 7:04 remaining. Freshman Chris Gavin (Memphis, TN/Memphis University School) put the visitors ahead by 20 (81-61) with just under five minutes left.

Williams' lead ballooned to as many as 22 points with 4:08 to go, before baskets from juniors Chase Almond (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown) and Will Lewis (Potomac, MD/Loomis Chaffee) closed out the contest.

Rooke-Ley went 16 of 22 from the field in the game, including 10 of 14 from three-point territory. Aronowitz  finished with 14 points, while senior Ryan Kilcullen (Hingham, MA/Phillips Exceter) chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Gendron paced the Engineers with 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Hatcher had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Almond had 12 points.

Rensselaer is back in action this weekend, when they play in the Tri-State Shootout, hosted by Southern Vermont. The Engineers face MCLA on Saturday (3pm) and either Southern Vermont or Vermont Tech on Sunday (TBD).