TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team returned to their winning ways on Friday night, as the Engineers took down the RIT Tigers by a final score of 59-53. RPI has won five of their last six games, and hold a record of 10-8 and 7-4 in league play.
 
The Tigers bested the Engineers in the first half, shooting just under 50 percent from the field while holding RPI to just 9-for-29 (31%) shooting. RIT opened up a lead as much as nine points as the second half got underway.
 
The Engineers got things rolling with a quick 7-0 run after the nine-point RIT lead, capped by a pair of free throws from Avery Eugster. After a bucket from the Tigers, Eugster struck again with a three-pointer to bring RPI back within a point. That began an 8-0 run as a basket from Yechiel Stewart and three-pointer from Jonny Angbazo moved RPI into a four-point lead.
 
However, RIT then good over in the game of runs, claiming back the lead and moving it to five points after a three-pointer from Chase Dickens with five minutes to play. The Engineers dug in, as PJ Scalisi and Andrew Deppe went back-to-back from long distance to reclaim the lead at the 3:49 mark. From that point forward, the Engineers hung on and maintained their lead for the win.
 
Eugster led the offense with 16 points on the night with eight rebounds, while Angbazo added 12 points. The Engineers hit 11 three-pointers on the evening, and outrebounded the Tigers 39-35. For RIT, Chase Dickens led the way with 13 points while Kenny Wilburn added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
RPI returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 27 when they host Skidmore at ECAV Arena at 4 p.m.