It was the last regular season home game for Murphy, who is retiring at the end of the season. Hamilton (8-4 conference, 16-6 overall) has won four straight games and is now tied for first in the conference with Clarkson University, which has lost three straight.
Joe Smith scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Continentals. Mike Evans scored 14 first-half points and finished with 16 off the bench. Greg Leone added 14 points, a season-high eight assists and four steals. Tim Welchons chipped in 13 points and four assists off the bench, and C.J. Cantil filled the stat sheet with 12 points, eight boards and seven assists. Forty-four of Hamilton’s 71 shot attempts were from three-point range. The Continentals made 13.
Rensselaer’s Jared Hite led all scorers with 30 points and all rebounders with 15. Paris Moore notched 20 points and Tom Schneider had 10 points and seven boards.
The Red Hawks led 38-33 at the half, but Hamilton came back to tie the score three times early in the second half. Finally, the Continentals grabbed a 57-56 lead on Welchons’ jumper with 10:23 left. After three more ties, two Hite free throws put Rensselaer back in front 70-68 with 5:33 remaining. A Smith lay-up tied the score for the seventh time in the second half before Cantil’s three-pointer gave Hamilton the lead for good at 73-70 with 3:29 left.
The Continentals will travel to Canton, N.Y., to play St. Lawrence University in another conference game on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m.