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TROY, N.Y. - Junior Tom Horvat scored 27 points on 11 of 15 shooting to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team to a 98-62 victory over Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in a non-league men's basketball game at East Campus Arena. The Engineers shot 54.9% from the floor in improving to 6-1. The Trailblazers fall to 2-5.

Horvat (Cranston, RI / Marianapolis Prep.), a guard, had 17 first half points on 7 of 10 shooting before adding 10 more in the second half to finish with game-high honors. He also had two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals in 29 minutes. Classmate Marcus Giese (Franklin, MA / Franklin) finished with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds after he had 10 rebounds with seven points in the first half. He also had a game-high six assists with two blocks and a pair of steals.

Rensselaer opened an 8-0 lead to start the game and increased its advantage to 17-4 midway through the first half. MCLA answered with the next five points, but a 10-0 run by the Engineers put them ahead by 18 points (27-9) with 7:33 to play. Two minutes later, RPI scored eight in a row for a 37-14 edge with just under four minutes remaining in the half. The Trailblazers cut the deficit to 42-23 with an 8-0 run of its own in the final minutes of the frame but trailed 44-26 at the break. 

Senior Asa Barnhill (Gloversville, NY / Gloversville) had eight points first half points on 4 of 5 shooting for the Engineers, who made 54.3% (19 of 35) of their shots with the help of 12 assists. Kevin Davis (Oxford, NY / Oxford Academy and Central School) had four assists and Bard Featherston (Queens, NY / Xaverian) had three.

For MCLA, sophomore guard Antoine Montgomery (Boston, MA / Hyde School) had nine first half points and freshman forward Hayden Bird (North Adams, MA / Drury) scored six. 

Rensselaer came out in the second half and scored 15 of the first 17 points for a 59-28 lead six minutes in on its way to the victory.

Freshman Rohan Harrison (Hartsdale, NY / The Harvey School) had a career-high 16 points on 7 for 7 shooting, Mitchel Wayand (Saratoga Springs, NY / Stillwater) scored 12 points and Barnhill finished with 10 for RPI, which held a 42-24 edge in rebounding as it won for the fourth straight game. 

Montgomery had a team-best 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting for MCLA. Quran Davis (New York, NY / Brooklyn Friends) scored 12 points and Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, NY / Averill Park) notched 10 points with six rebounds.

The Engineers are idle until December 29-30 when they compete in the St. John Fisher Tournament. The Trailblazers hosts Rivier University on Thursday at 8pm.