AREA RIVALS VISIT ECAV: Rensselaer continues its four-game homestand this Friday and Saturday when it hosts area-rivals Union and Skidmore at East Campus Arena ... The Engineers take on the Dutchmen on Friday night (8pm), before dueling the Thoroughbreds on Saturday afternoon (4pm).

RENSSELAER FALLS TO RIT: Joe Stortini scored a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers and help Rochester Institute of Technology to an 87-76 win over Rensselaer on January 3 ... Stortini, who had 18 points in the first half, was one of five Tigers in double figures for points, while the Engineers had three student-athletes scored at least 10 points ... The Tigers held a 44-35 lead at halftime, thanks in large part to Stortini, who made seven baskets, including three three-pointers ... Tyler Gendron 13 first half points, including three three-pointers of his own ... RPI opened the second half with three-pointers by Nate Kane and Gendron and went on to outscore the Tigers by five points in the first 3:07 to pull within four points, 49-45, but RIT made it a 10-point lead three minutes later ... The Engineers got to within four points on two other occasions, including at the 6:36 mark, but that was as close as they could get ... Kane led the Engineers, scoring 19 points, including five three-pointers, while Gendron finished with 18 points ... Josh Dugas finished with 16 points, along with team-bests of seven assists and seven rebounds.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live statistics for this weekend's action – and all Rensselaer home games – can be followed at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/mbb.

WATCH ONLINE: The games can be seen at www.rpiathletics.com/watch/mbball. 

PACING THE ENGINEERS: RPI is led offensively by junior Tyler Gendron, who is averaging 14.9 points per game ... He is followed by classmate Chase Almond at 13.5 points per contest ... Almond hauls in a club-best 9.5 rebounds per game ... Fellow junior Brian Hatcher (12.1 ppg) and senior captain Josh Dugas (11.9 ppg) also average double-figures for Rensselaer.

2013-14 VS. UNION: RPI and Union split their two meetings last season with both teams winning at home ... RPI defended ECAV Arena with a 107-78 win on January 31, before the Dutchmen were victorious, 97-89, in Schenectady.

2013-14 VS. SKIDMORE: The Engineers got a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Nick Keefe to top Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, 96-95 on January 18 ... The Thoroughbreds responded by topping RPI, 82-49, in Troy on February 2. 

THE CAPTAINS: Seniors Josh Dugas and Jarrett Boeglin will lead the Engineers on the field for the 2014-15 season

BY POSITION: The Engineers roster consists of five guards, six forwards and a combination guard/forward.

BY CLASS: The team is made up of one freshman, two sophomores, seven juniors and two seniors.

RENSSELAER'S COACHES: The Engineers are led by first-year head coach Mark Gilbride ... He is a 2002 graduate of Bowdoin College ... Gilbride is assisted by Matt Kelly.