TROY, N.Y. - For the second consecutive season, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team will host post-season play as the top seed in the Liberty League Tournament at East Campus Arena. The Engineers begin the three-game event by hosting fifth-seeded Skidmore College on Saturday at 2pm with second-seeded Ithaca College facing the third seed, Vassar College, at 4:30pm.

The winners compete for the title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 2pm.

RPI is 21-4 with a 15-3 conference mark, including a 4-2 record against the other three teams in the field. Skidmore, which won a first round game at fourth-seeded St. Lawrence University (67-55) on Tuesday to improve to 14-10, finished with a 9-8 league record. The Thoroughbreds were 1-5 against the remaining squads with its lone victory coming against RPI in overtime (71-65) in Saratoga Springs.

The Bombers had regular season records of 17-8 and 13-5 with a mark of 3-3 against Rensselaer, Vassar and Skidmore. The Brewers, who beat sixth-seeded Hobart College 71-69 on a buzzer beater on Tuesday, are 16-8 and were 11-6 in the league. They were 4-2 against the field, including a road win against the Engineers.

Rensselaer, which is led by eighth-year head coach Mark Gilbride, leads Division III in scoring defense, allowing only 57.0 points per game. The opposition shoots 38.5 percent from the floor and is out-rebounded by 7.2 boards per game. Opponents turn the ball over 14.3 times per contest, in part due to the Engineers averaging 7.8 steals. RPI turns the ball over 1.7 fewer times per game than the opposition (6.1).

Senior forward Patrick Mahoney (Ossining, NY / Fordham Prep.) is the leading point producer for RPI, which averages 71.2 points per contest. A national All-America in 2019-20 (the 2020-21 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), he averaged 15.1 points over 15 games before suffering a season-ending injury.

Mason Memmelaar (Middletown, NY / Pine Bush), also a senior forward, is second in scoring (14.2) and first in rebounding (6.6) while averaging 27.9 minutes. He has made 55.9 percent of his shot attempts (133 of 238) with 59 assists, 30 steals and nine blocks. A two-time Liberty League Performer of the Week, he has scored in double figures in 20 games with a season-high 27 once (Skidmore). Memmelaar has two double-doubles of points and rebounds.

Dom Black (Arlington, MA / Arlington), a senior guard who was the conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20, leads the Engineers in minutes (30.5) and steals (46) and ranks second in rebounding average (5.6), assists (68) and blocked shots (10). He averages 11.0 points per game with seven contests of at least 15 points.

A junior forward, Jonny Angbazo (Tenafly, NJ / Tenafly) has scored at least a dozen points in nine of his last 10 games and averages 13.5 over 25 contests. He is third on the team in scoring and rebounding (5.4) with a team-best 25 blocked shots. He also has 44 assists and 21 steals in 29.6 minutes per game.

RPI, which played in the final of the 2020 Liberty League Tournament before earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, has won 20 games-or-more in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. The 2019-20 squad won a school-record 24 games (24-5), breaking the previous record of 20 victories (1990-91: 20-5; 1995-96: 20-8).

Rensselaer's two games against Skidmore both came within the last month with RPI winning at home on January 24 (74-59) and losing on February 4 (71-65 in overtime). The Engineers have won six straight games since that defeat. The Thoroughbreds have won their last two games, Ithaca is 3-0 in its last three and Vassar rebounded from a two-game losing skid to win its first round game. 

Those who wish to attend any of the three Liberty League Tournament games must show proof of being fully vaccinated from COVID-19 in order to be admitted. All spectators must wear a mask while in ECAV Arena.