TROY, N.Y. – Juniors Tanner Tedesco and Jack Plesser combined for 50 points as the Union College men's basketball team, among teams receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, remained unbeaten in Liberty League play with its fifth straight win, a 76-59 triumph over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday evening at East Campus Athletic Village Arena.
 
Plesser and Tedesco scored 25 points apiece for Union (9-2, 4-0 Liberty League), which handed Rensselaer (8-4, 4-1 Liberty League) its first league loss of the year. Plesser hit 8-of-16 shots from the field and went 9-for-9 from the line, while Tedesco hit 5-of-10 shots from long range and added five boards and four assists.
 
Led by Plesser and Tedesco, Union shot 44.3 percent (27 of 61) from the field, 40.0 percent (8 of 20) from beyond the arc, and 93.3 percent (14 of 15) from the charity stripe in the victory, which kept the Garnet Chargers as one of two unbeaten teams remaining in conference play.
 
Union hit its first three shots of the game to take an early 7-0 lead, highlighted by a fast-break dunk by Plesser, and connected on nine of its first 13 shots overall to take a 23-16 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Tedesco hit his first three shots from the field and both free throws to record 10 points in the game's first eight minutes. RPI responded with 13 of the next 14 points to take its largest lead of the game at 29-24 with 7:32 on the clock, but Plesser and senior Christian Dufort scored four points each as part of an 8-0 run that put the visitors back in front.
 
After the Engineers got back within a point at 34-33, Union closed with a 9-0 stretch to take a 43-33 lead into the half. Plesser had five points to lead the run for the Garnet Chargers, including a three-point play in the final minute. Plesser scored 15 points and Tedesco added 14 in the opening half to pace the visitors, who shot 51.5 percent (17 of 33) from the field.
 
The teams matched points in the first four minutes of the second half, with five straight points by Tedesco keeping Union up 52-43 with under 16 minutes remaining. A layup by junior Jaden Jauregui and a three by senior Matthew Garside finished off a 10-0 run and built up a 14-point edge (57-43) with 14:42 on the clock. Still ahead by 11 with six minutes to go, a driving layup by Plesser and a three from senior Neil Daterao bumped the lead back to 16 and allowed Union to coast the rest of the way, with the visitors closing on a 9-2 run to finish off the win.
 
Despite shooting just 35.7 percent (10 of 28) from the field in the second half, the Garnet Chargers limited the Engineers to just a 25.8 percent (8 of 31) effort from the field in the final 20 minutes, including a 2-of-15 mark from long range.
 
Union will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow with a 4 p.m. matchup at reigning conference champions Ithaca College.