Box Score Box Score

BENNINGTON, N.Y. - Senior Tyler Gendron had a game-high 17 points and junior Chase Almond pulled down 15 rebounds to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team to a 78-53 win over Vermont Tech. in the consolation game of the Tri-State Shootout hosted by Southern Vermont College. Gendron, who had 27 points in Saturday's first round game, was named to the All-Tournament Team. The Engineers are now 2-5 on the season.

Three-pointers highlighted the beginning of the first game as the two sides went back-and-forth with deep shots. The Knights hit five of their first seven trey attempts with Hughes knocking one down to give Vermont Tech. a 15-14 advantage. The Engineers hit their share of shots from beyond the perimeter as well including one from senior Josh Dugas (Monroe, Connecticut) that gave RPI the 22-17 lead near the midpoint of the first half. With the teams working mostly from the outside, fouls were scarce in the opening period; the first was called on VTC with 10:11 to go in the stanza, and a total of five were called all half.
 
RPI started to consistently make its shots, pulling out to a 40-27 lead with 3:23 to play. A Trailblazer layup on the following possession cut it to 40-29 before both sides ceased to score for the remaining three minutes, sending the Engineers into the break with the 11-point lead.
 
Vermont Tech. came out of the locker room and made some shots, but RPI answered every time to maintain its advantage. The Engineers opened things up towards the end of the game, eventually increasing their lead to the final 25-point difference in the last minute.
 
Four RPI starters scored double digits with Gendron leading the way at 17 to go with seven rebounds. Junior Brian Hatcher (Danbury, Connecticut) followed with 16 points while Dugas finished with 15 and a tie for the game-high in assists with four. Sophomore Nate Kane (Glenmont, New York) also dished out four helpers while notching 10 points. Almond (South Kingston, Rhode Island) was a force on the defensive end of the floor for RPI, swatting away five Knight shots while grabbing nine defensive boards; he scored nine points and totaled a game-best 15 rebounds in the win.
 
Hughes recorded 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the effort while junior Logan White (So. Royalton, Vermont) also scored 15 on 4-8 shooting from three-point range. Knight junior Rashaad Powery-Saunds (Cayman Islands) got in on the block party with four of his own to go with three rebounds.
 
RPI shot 46.3 percent from the floor on 31-67 attempts while holding Vermont Tech. to a 32.8 percent clip (19-58). The Engineers forced VTC to make 14 turnovers and turned them into 15 points; adversely, RPI only gave the ball away seven times with the Knights getting two points off their takeaways. Rensselaer saw more success in the paint, scoring 32 points compared to 18 on the Vermont Tech. side.
 
The Engineers are off until December 28 when they take on Ursinus College in the Land of Magic Classic in Orlando, Florida. VTC next plays on Tuesday, hosting Northern Essex Community College for a 6 p.m. tip.