TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball season has extended into the playoffs as the Engineers are the fifth seed in the Liberty League Tournament that begins on Tuesday. Rensselaer, which is 15-10 overall and 10-8 in the conference, travels to Ithaca College, the fourth seed, for a 7pm contest. The Bombers are 15-10 and 11-7.

RPI, which is coached by Mark Gilbride, has won four straight games and five of its last six. The Engineers feature three student-athletes who average double figures in scoring.

Senior guard Tom Horvat (Cranston, RI / Marianapolis Prep.) leads the team and is sixth in the league at 16.3 points per game over 24 contests. He has made 138 of 337 field goals (40.9%), including 75 of 201 (37.3%) from three point range, with 81 rebounds (3.4), a team-high 71 assists and a team-best 55 steals. He is first in the conference in three pointers per game at 3.1, second in assists per game (2.3) and second in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.8). An All-Liberty League First Team honoree as a junior, Horvat has 1,565 career points, which is second in program history to Tom Ronan '92, who scored 1,724 points.

Sophomore Patrick Mahoney (Ossining, NY / Fordham Prep.) is behind only Horvat in points per game with 14.5 in 24 games. A forward, he leads the team in field goal percentage at 50.4% (135 for 268) and is second in three point field goal accuracy at 35.7% (35 for 98). Mahoney is also second in rebounding (5.6 per game) while registering 37 assists and 10 steals.

Andreas Kontopidis (Sherborn, MA Dover-Sherborn), a senior forward, averages 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds with 53 assists, 14 steals and 12 blocked shots. He is one of three Engineers to have played all 25 games and the only one to start them all. A two-time All-Liberty League Second Team selection prior to this season, Kontopidis has 1,217 career points, which is the eighth most in school history. He is 10 points from Rob Helmer '89 (1,227) for seventh place. 

Senior Marcus Giese (Franklin, MA Franklin), a forward, leads Rensselaer in rebounding (6.1 per game) and blocked shots (33) while ranking second in assists with 70. He averages 9.3 points and has 14 steals in 22 games.

RPI's lone loss in its last six games was in overtime to Ithaca, 89-85, on February 2 in Central New York. The Engineers won the first meeting, 82-79 on January 18 in Troy behind Horvat, who had 28 points. Mahoney finished with 13 points, while Geise had 11 points and 11 rebounds with three assists and two blocked shots. Kontopidis earned a double-double of his own, registering 10 points and 10 rebounds. On the other end, Ithaca saw Sebastian Aldrete (25 points) and Riley Thompson (24) combine for 49 points.

The winner of Tuesday's game advances to the semifinals against top seeded Skidmore College (17-7; 15-3) on Saturday at 4:30pm in Saratoga Springs. The championship game is on Sunday afternoon at 2pm at Skidmore.