TROY, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team battled hard but suffered a 65-49 defeat to D3hoops.com #19 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday afternoon at ECAV Arena.
 
Seniors Mike Manley and Brian Noone paced Union (2-10, 1-4 Liberty League) with 16 points apiece, with Manley chipping in eight rebounds, three assists and three steals as well. Fellow senior Justin Regis continued his recent rebounding binge with a game-high 12 caroms to go with six points.
 
Jonny Angbazo paced three Engineers in double figures with a game-high 17 points, followed by Avery Eugster with 13 points and Dom Black with 10 and a team-best eight rebounds for Rensselaer (10-2, 4-1 Liberty League).
 
Union spread the scoring around in the opening frame, with seven players scoring a bucket and no player recording more than four points. Regis also corralled a game-high six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes for the visitors.
 
Union struggled out of the gate, missing eight of its first nine shots and allowing Rensselaer to take an early 12-2 lead 5:48 into the contest. Three straight buckets from seniors Mike Concannon, Chris Lovisolo and Noone got the visitors back into the contest down by just four with 11:03 left, but RPI built the lead back up to as many as 13 points with 3:22 left before Union got within seven (27-20) after two freebies by senior Sean Regis in the final minute of the half.
 
The Dutchmen struggled to find any supplemental scoring in the second half, as Manley and Noone combined for 26 of the team's 29 points. Manley had 14 and Noone added 12 in the frame, with J. Regis adding a basket and senior Connor Cepiel sinking a free throw for the team's other three points.
 
The senior tandem had Union's first 14 points of the half as the visitors battled back to get within five after a Noone layup with 12:49 remaining. The deficit was still only six with 8:01 on the clock following a Manley three-pointer and it remained in single digits for much of the next four minutes, but Union was unable to provide a final offensive push and RPI clinched the contest at the free-throw line.
 
Union struggled shooting on the day, connecting at a 31.1 percent (19 of 61) clip from the field. Rensselaer shot a very efficient 46.7 percent (21 of 45) from the field and also took 23 trips to the charity stripe, making 17 (73.9 percent).
 
With its seven-game road trip finally coming to an end, Union will look to turn the corner during its upcoming seven-game homestand. The pivotal stretch begins on Tuesday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Vassar College at Viniar Athletic Center.