CU Men's Basketball Preview - vs. Rensselaer/Union (1/16-17)

After suffering its first loss of the conference season on Tuesday, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team will look to get back on track when the team faces Rensselaer and Union this weekend at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights enter the weekend with a record of 9-3 overall and 2-1 in Liberty League play, while Rensselaer comes in at 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the conference and Union is 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the league.

A familiar face will appear on Friday, as former Clarkson head coach Mark Gilbride is now the leader of RPI. His familiarity with the roster should help the Engineers, who have struggled out of the gate in the early going with just four wins in 14 outings. RPI has won 70 percent of the all-time meetings, though the two teams each won on their home courts in 2013-14. The Engineers haven't had a ton of luck on defense so far this year, allowing teams to shoot nearly 45% from the floor, which has been a strong point for Clarkson this year as the team passes the ball well on the interior for easy baskets, leading the conference in assists (16.8 apg).

Rensselaer gets a significant portion of its scoring from its starting five, scoring 81.9% of the team's points, a figure that would go even higher if Tyler Gendron, one of the team's normal starters, hadn't scored 27 off the bench in his lone non-starting nod. Gendron ranks second on the team in sconring at 12.4 ppg, trailing only Chase Lamond, who leads his team with 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest along with a team-best 46.6% shooting performance. Josh Dugas chips in 11.8 points per contest and Brian Hatcher has prodcued 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game thus far.

Union is the highest scoring team in the conference (77.4 ppg), but also allows the most points per game of any team in the Liberty League (72.4 ppg). Not surprisingly, the team also has the best shooting percentage (44.7%) and ranks near the bottom of the conference in field goal defense (43.8%). The Dutchmen have six of the Liberty League's top 30 scorers, led by Deshon Burgess, who averages 16.2 points per game along with 5.9 rebounds. William Hython leads the conference in rebounding at 8.8 per game and also ranks third in the league in both scoring (15.5 points) and field goal percentage (49.4%). Terrell Winney leads the league in 3-pointers made (32) and 3-point field goal percentage (50.8%) to contribute 10.8 ppg, and Ryan Whelpley chips in 9.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest.

For the Golden Knights, senior John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) continues his march toward the all-time scoring mark at Clarkson, leading the league in scoring at 18.8 ppg and field goal percentage (55.2%). He has is now just 140 points short of breaking the school mark. Junior Felix Abongo (Beacon, NY) is averaging 13.8 points per game while senior backcourt mates Dylan Hodownes (Honeoye Falls, NY) and Charles McAllister (Olathe, KS) have matching scoring (7.7) and assists (4.1) averages. Derek Hart (Poughkeepsie, NY) ranks third in the league in blocks (1.7 bpg).

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Players Mentioned

#33 Felix Abongo: G; 6' 4"; Junior

#22 John Coleman: F; 6' 4"; Senior

#42 Derek Hart: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#12 Dylan Hodownes: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#24 Charles McAllister: G; 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#33 Felix Abongo
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

#22 John Coleman
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

#42 Derek Hart
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#12 Dylan Hodownes
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#24 Charles McAllister
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G