WESTFIELD, Mass. | Mike Vick and Quincy Rutherford cashed in from behind the arc late in the second half which gave them their first lead of the game to lift the Scarlet Raiders over RPI, 61-58, in the opening round of the Rick Martin/Hampton Inn Tournament.  With the win, Rutgers University-Newark advances to tomorrow's 3:00 p.m. championship game against Utica College, a 73-66 winner over Westfield earlier today.    RPI will face host Westfield at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation final.

Rutgers University-Newark (1-0) was led by Rutherford's 20 points and eight rebounds while Chase Barneys poured in 16 points. Vick secured 12 points and tallied a team-high four assists and three steals. 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (0-1) received 21 points from Patrick Mahoney while Dom Black led with seven rebounds.

The Scarlet Raiders found themselves down 15-4 midway through the first half, however, three minutes later Barneys hit from range to cut the lead down to four. RPI took control of the game and pushed their lead out to 13, 29-16, at the 2:47 mark. Cold shooting and tight defense would make that the final made field goal for the remainder of the half. 

Down 13 at the half, the Scarlet Raiders came out in the second stanza and looked reinvigorated. Behind red hot shooting (59%) from the floor, the Scarlet Raiders surged back into the game. At the 5:37 mark, Vick banked a layup in off of the glass to knot the game up at 49. 

Not to be outdone, Patrick Mahoney put RPI up by one with a pair from the charity stripe. With just 30 seconds left in the game, the Scarlet Raiders trailed by one until Rutherford played hero and laid one off of the glass to give his team the lead for good. Vick added a pair of insurance free-throws after a quality defensive stand that saw him steal the ball.

The Scarlet Raiders will prepare for Utica tomorrow afternoon in the championship game at 3:00 pm.