SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team continues its quest for a third Liberty League Tournament championship in the last four years on Saturday afternoon, when the fourth-seeded Dutchmen travel to top-seeded and D3hoops.com #24 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a 2 p.m. game at ECAV Arena.
 
Union enters the weekend with a 16-9 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 fifth-place Vassar College. Second-seeded Hobart College takes on third-seeded Ithaca College in Saturday's second semifinal matchup.
 
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 11-9 all-time in the conference postseason, including six appearances in the title game.
 
ALL-TIME VS. RPI: To say Union and RPI are familiar with each other would be an understatement. The two teams have met 208 times on the hardcourt since the first meeting on February 17, 1898. The Dutchmen own a 114-94 lead in the all-time series, while the two teams have amazingly split the 102 meetings in Troy. In more recent history, RPI won both regular-season games this season, earning a low-scoring 61-50 victory in Troy on January 10 and then outshooting the Dutchmen in an 85-79 win in Schenectady on February 1. In postseason play, Union and RPI have only met twice in the conference tournament, with the Engineers winning games in 2001 and 2013.
 
GETTING THE POINT(S): The Dutchmen rank second in the conference by averaging 75.7 points per game this season and averaged nearly 78 points per game over 18 Liberty League contests during the regular season. This season, Union is 15-3 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 one of only two teams in the Liberty League not to have a player in the top-10 in the conference in scoring. Sophomore Mike Concannon moved up from 16th to 12th in the conference in scoring after his career-best 26-point game on Tuesday versus Vassar, and has led the team in scoring in 10 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.
 
IF IT'S FREE, IT'S FOR ME: The Dutchmen lead the Liberty League by shooting 74.3 percent from the charity stripe this season, hitting a conference-best 358 shots from the free-throw line over 25 games (14.3 per game). Overall, the team is 10-1 this season when hitting more free throws than its opponents. The shooting has continued to improve in recent weeks, as Union has made 73 of 88 (.829) freebies over the last four games.
 
ROAD WORRIERS: Union won 10 of its 12 games at home this season, but the team is just 6-7 in games at away or neutral sites so far in 2019-20 and averages nearly 10 points per game less on the road than at home. The team will enter the weekend trending in the right direction, however, having won its last three games away from Schenectady to end the regular season.
 
BLOCK PARTY: For the second year in a row, junior Rhona Eseyade is leading the Liberty League in blocks with 55 despite averaging less than 17 minutes per game, averaging 2.2 rejections per contest. The center has at least one block in 22-of-25 games this season, including a season-high five against Hartwick College on November 8 and Hobart College on December 10. His 55 blocks in each of the last two seasons are the two highest totals for a Dutchman since Mark Stodden '95 had 78 and 63 blocks in his final two years.
 
ABOUT THE ENGINEERS: RPI is in the midst of the best season in school history, bringing a 22-3 record into the weekend. The Engineers have already set a program record for wins in a season and earned the first D3hoops.com national ranking in school history this week. RPI leads the Liberty League by allowing only 59.9 points per game this season, and also paces the conference in rebounds allowed per game (30.2) and steals (247). The team also is tops in the Liberty League by shooting 47.1 percent from the field, led by Mason Memmelaar at 55.4 percent while scoring 13.4 points per game. Patrick Mahoney leads three Engineers averaging in double figures with 15.4 points per contest, while Dom Black chips in 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
 
ABOUT THE STATESMEN: Hobart enters the postseason fifth in the Liberty League by averaging 71.8 points per game while ranking second by allowing 61.2 ppg. Opponents shoot a conference-low 36.6 percent from the field and 27.0 percent from beyond the arc against the Statesmen, while Hobart also grabs a conference-best 42.9 rebounds per game. Tucker Lescoe leads the team by averaging 13.7 points per game this season, while Edens Fleurizard paces the rebounders by hauling in 8.7 caroms per contest.
 
ABOUT THE BOMBERS: Ithaca boasts the top-scoring offense in the Liberty League this season, averaging 85.0 points per game and shooting a conference-best 35.7 percent from three-point range. The Bombers also lead the conference in turnover margin, averaging only 10.4 giveaways per game. Ithaca boasts the top-two scorers in the Liberty League in Riley Thompson (18.5 ppg) and Sebastian Alderete (16.6 ppg), while Skylar Simon leads the conference by averaging 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the championship game, where they will face off with either Hobart or Ithaca tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Troy.
 
2020 Liberty League Men's Basketball Tournament
 
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 – First Round (at Higher Seeds)
#3 Ithaca College 64, #6 St. Lawrence University 54
#4 Union College 72, #5 Vassar College 62
 
Saturday, February 29, 2020 – Semifinals (at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
#4 Union College at #1 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2 p.m.
#3 Ithaca College vs. #2 Hobart College, 4:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 1, 2020 – Championship (at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Union/RPI vs. Ithaca/Hobart, 2 p.m.