THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Rhode Island College 81, MIT 68
 
- Records: MIT (0-1); Rhode Island College (1-0)
 
- Location: Providence, R.I. (The Murray Center)
 
- The Lead: Despite a 19-point, 15-rebound double-double by senior Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.), the MIT men's basketball team dropped an 81-68 road final to Rhode Island College on Saturday afternoon in the season opener.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Over the first five minutes, the Anchormen building to an eight-point lead at 10-2 after a jumper from Jordan Riley before the Engineers countered with a 13-4 run to seize the one-point lead at 15-14 on a three from first-year Kade Killeen (Austin, Texas). During that run, Hinkley surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career as he entered this season at 996 career points.
 
- RIC extended its advantage to double digits for the first time at 29-19 following a Shion Darby layup with 5:18 left in the first half. The Anchormen eventually led by 17 before the Engineers cut the lead to 38-25 at the break following a layup from senior Dan Pilsbury (Millington, N.J.) that capped the first-half scoring.
 
- In the second half, the two teams were even at 43 points each as the host Anchormen held at least a 10-point advantage throughout the half. After a Riley dunk with 6:18 on the clock, RIC held its largest lead of the game at 22 points before MIT eventually fell by the 13-point non-conference final.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Hinkley paced three Engineers in double figures with his double-double as he also added two assists and two blocks. Junior Alex Cho (San Diego, Calif.) posted 12 points, seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists and senior Giannis Chatziveroglou (Athens, Greece) had 10 points in 31 minutes.
 
- Overall, MIT shot 33.3 percent from the field and just 22.2 percent from three-point land.
 
- Darby paced all scorers with a 34-point effort on 12-of-25 shooting, along with a 16-point, 17-rebound double-double by Ousmane Kourouma as he was 7-for-8 from the field. Keyshawn Jacobs added 14 points, with 10 points and nine boards from Riley. As a team, the Anchormen shot 41.2 percent from the field, but just 21.2 percent from three that included 15 percent in the first half.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers open the 2021-22 home schedule on Tuesday, November 9th as the team hosts Husson University for a 7 p.m. start at Rockwell Cage.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.