TROY, N.Y. – Coming off a season in which it posted a 7-7 mark in conference play, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball looks to improve as they open their Liberty League schedule at home this weekend against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The Engineers host the defending champion Saints on Friday (8pm) and the Golden Knights on Saturday (4pm).
Guided by 26th-year head coach Mike Griffin, the Engineers enter this weekend's action with a 6-4 record, having come off a pair of tough losses to nationally-ranked Middlebury and Stevens Institute of Technology. RPI currently ranks among the nation's top 30 in a number of categories, including 24th in steals per game (10.9) and 27th in scoring offense (83.0 points average). Among Liberty League teams, the Engineers lead the conference in scoring offense, steals, rebounding offense (40.4 per game average) and defensive rebounds (26.7).
Leading the offensive attack for RPI is senior guard Travis Jones (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia), who boasts a team-best 12.0 points per contest. A starter in all 10 games this season, he averages 2.3 boards per game with four assists, two blocks and 13 steals. He is also the team's leader in free throw percentage (10 of 10).
Jones has been named a Liberty League Performer of the Week once this season and is among the conference's best in 3-point field goal percentage. He ranks seventh, hitting 26 of 65 shots from beyond the arc for 40.0%.
Rookie guard Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint John the Baptist) is second on the squad in scoring with 11.6 points per game. In addition to owning the team's top field goal percentage (59.6%; 34 of 57), he averages 4.0 boards per game with three assists and seven steals in eight games. Gibbons, a two-time conference Rookie of the Week, leads the Liberty League in field goal percentage, nailing 34 of 57 shots (59.6%).
Senior captains Mike Brion (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) and DJ Blakemore (Bloomfield Township, MI/Lahser) round out the top three for the Engineers. Brion, a forward, has come back from a first-semester injury to average 10.5 points through his first two games, while Blakemore, a guard, also averages 10.5 points with 11 assists, six blocks and 11 steals as a starter in all 10 contests.
The men's basketball program will honor the 1990-91 and 1995-96 squads in a pre-game ceremony before Saturday's 4pm tilt against Clarkson. Both squads made appearances in the NCAA Tournament, posting two of the best records in team history with 20-5 and 20-8 overall marks, respectively.
Live stats for both games can be found at http://www.rpiathletics.com/livestats, while a live pay-per-view webcast will be available at http://www.rpiathletics.com/webcasts.
