SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team begins its quest for a third Liberty League Tournament championship in the last four years on Tuesday night, when the fourth-seeded Dutchmen host fifth-seeded Vassar College at 7 p.m. at the Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Union enters the postseason with a 15-9 (12-6 Liberty League) record and was one of the clear top-four teams in the conference this season, as the Dutchmen finished the regular season five games ahead of Vassar, which ended with an 11-14 (7-11 Liberty League) mark. Third-seeded Ithaca College hosts sixth-seeded St. Lawrence University in the other first-round matchup, while top-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and second-seeded Hobart College received byes into the semifinal round.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 14th appearance in the Liberty League Tournament and fourth in the last five seasons. Union has captured four conference tournament titles (2002, 2005, 2017, 2018) in program history and is 10-9 all-time in the conference postseason, including six appearances in the title game.
 
ALL-TIME VS. VASSAR: Union is 40-12 all-time against Vassar since their first contest in 1988, but this is the first postseason meeting between the two teams. Union and Vassar split their two games this season, with both teams winning on their home courts. The Dutchmen put up 53 points in the first half on the way to a season-high 99 points in a 26-point win in Schenectady on January 18, but Union struggled to find the basket in a 60-55 loss in Poughkeepsie on February 14.
 
GETTING THE POINT(S): The Dutchmen rank second in the conference by averaging 75.8 points per game this season and averaged nearly 78 points per game over 18 Liberty League contests. This season, Union is 14-3 when the team scores at least 70 points in a game and 1-6 when the team fails to reach the 70-point plateau.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Despite its high scoring average, Union is the only team in the Liberty League not to have a player in the top-15 in the conference in scoring. Sophomore Mike Concannon is the only Dutchman averaging double figures at 12.9 points per game and has led the team in scoring in nine contests. Six teammates have led Union in scoring in multiple games this season, however, as any number of players are capable of having a big game.
 
HOME COOKIN': Union has been a very good team on its home court this season, winning nine of their 11 games at the Viniar Athletic Center. The Dutchmen are averaging 82.6 points per game in Schenectady (compared to 72.0 ppg on the road) and boast their four highest shooting percentages of the year at home.
 
BLOCK PARTY: For the second year in a row, junior Rhona Eseyade is leading the Liberty League in blocks with 53 despite averaging less than 17 minutes per game, averaging 2.2 rejections per contest. The center has at least one block in 21-of-24 games this season, including a season-high five against Hartwick College on November 8 and Hobart College on December 10. His 55 blocks last season and 53 so far this year are the two highest totals for a Dutchman since Mark Stodden '95 had 78 and 63 blocks in his final two seasons.
 
ABOUT THE BREWERS: Vassar is in the Liberty League Tournament for the sixth time since joining the conference in 2000, having won just one of its first six conference tournament games. Junior Zach Bromfeld leads the Brewers by averaging 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this season, and he is joined in the frontcourt by freshman Zach Johnson, who shoots 60 percent from the field and averages 11.5 points and 8.0 boards per game. The Brewers are a very young team overall, with just two seniors and seven returners overall complementing a 10-person freshman class.

WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the semifinals, where they will face off with top-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday in Troy.
 
2020 Liberty League Men's Basketball Tournament
 
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 – First Round
#6 St. Lawrence University at #3 Ithaca College, 7 p.m.
#5 Vassar College at #4 Union College, 7 p.m.
 
Saturday, February 29, 2020 – Semifinals (at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Union/Vassar at #1 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2 p.m.
Ithaca/St. Lawrence vs. #2 Hobart College, 4:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 1, 2020 – Championship (at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Semifinal Winners, 2 p.m.