Rensselaer Pulls Away in Second Half

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior guard Eric Anderson (Merrimack, N.H.) scored a game-high 16 points to pace four Rensselaer men's basketball players in double digits as the Engineers pulled away in the second half to defeat Wentworth, 79-58, in a non-conference game played at Tansey Gymnasium.

The first 12 minutes of the contest would feature five ties and eight lead changes with neither team holding more than a three-point lead.  A basket by Leopard sophomore guard Eric Prue (Auburn, Maine) with 8:00 left in the half gave Wentworth a 22-21 lead, a lead that would not last long as the Engineers used a 9-2 run to take a 30-24 lead when senior forward Tim Rupp (Staten Island, N.Y.) hit a pair of free throws.

Four straight Wentworth points coming from junior forward Sam Herrick (Duxbury, Mass.) and senior guard Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass.) cut the lead down to two but Rupp and Anderson countered with baskets of their own to push the lead back to six with 2:31 remaining.  Sophomore guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) buried a three to cut the lead in half before freshman forward Daniel Martin (Cohasset, Mass.) hit one of two free throws with 30 ticks left to give the Engineers a 35-31 lead at the break.

A 12-4 run to open the second half gave RPI a 12-point lead with 15:22 to play and the Engineers would extend their lead to as much as 18.  Wentworth would close the gap to as few as 11 on three separate occasions, including with 6:02 to play, but would get no closer.  Over the course of the second half, RPI shot 61.5 percent (16-for-26) from the floor and held the Leopards to just 28.6 percent (8-for-28).

Anderson was 5-for-8 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc, and had three assists.  Rupp was 5-for-8 from the floor for 14 points and had five assists and three steals, while junior guards Travis Jones (East Greenbush, Conn.) and Ike Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas) had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Wentworth was led by Herrick who had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.  Barrett and senior forward Matt Abobott (Falmouth, Mass.) chipped in with nine points apiece.

With the win Rensselaer improves to 7-2 and is at St. Joseph's of Vermont on Friday night.  Wentworth falls to 3-6 and is at Newbury Thursday evening.