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CANTON, N.Y. - Graduate student Riley Naclerio netted a season-high 28 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Cale Sargent posted a career-high 12 points and helped make critical plays to lead the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team to a 69-65 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Liberty League play on Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium.
 
With thewin, the Saints improve to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Rensselaer falls to 4-3 and 1-1.
 
Naclerio shot 11-for-21 from the floor, 2-for-6 from the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line, while Sargent went 5-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-5 from the arc. Third in the Saints' lineup was Ben Crawford, who rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. He also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds. Sargent recorded four steals, while Naclerio and Adeleke Karera each posted two blocks.
 
Rensselaer struck first, jumping out to an early lead and accumulating a double-figure advantage just about 10 minutes into the first half. The Saints pushed back against the Engineers and a 3-pointer from Naclerio brought them within a five-point margin. Sargent then posted a fast-break jumper in the paint and sunk back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Saints a 30-28 advantage at halftime.
 
After back-and-forth play to open the second half, St. Lawrence maintained a slight lead, holding off comeback attempts from the Engineers down the stretch. A basket and an end-one, followed up by a 3-pointer from Naclerio, capped an 8-0 run for the Saints and increased their lead to nine points with about three and a half minutes remaining.
 
The Scarlet and Brown shot 5-for-5 from the line to secure their first league win of the season.

Patrick Mahoney led the Engineers with 26 points and nine rebounds, shooting 9-for-18 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the line. Tom Horvat recorded 17 points and Andreas Kontopidis added 10, including the 1000th point of his career. Mason Memmelaar posted two blocks and Horvat and Jeffrey Coulter recorded two steals.
 
St. Lawrence combined to shoot 46 percent from the floor, topping the Engineers' 37 percent, but Rensselaer finished shooting 30 percent from the arc to the Saints' 29 percent.