Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team is back in action for the first time since November 16 when it travels to the Capital Region for a non-conference contest at RPI. Tip-off with the Engineers is set for 6:00 p.m. with Live Stats and Video available for those unable to attend.
 
At A Glance: The Mount enters Friday's contest at 0-3 overall after suffering a home loss to Western Connecticut on November 11 and dropping both games of the Chuck Resler Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester last weekend. The Knights fell in the opener of the event to Heidelberg and were downed by Misericordia in the consolation round on Saturday.
 
The Knights feature a pair of players averaging 20 points on the young season, led by senior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) who is good for 20.3 points per contest over three games. Francis has put together a strong start to the season, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game to go along with 19 assists and six steals. Francis, who was named to the Resler All-Tournament Team, is converting at 48.0-percent from three-point range, going 12-for-25 from behind the arc.
 
Junior Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) has appeared in one game to date and led the Mount in the season opener with 20 points. He finished his lone appearance of the season 8-for-16 from the floor, hitting a pair of triples, adding four assists and a pair of steals.
 
Fellow junior Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) is converting at 45.5-percent from the floor for the Mount and leads the team with 4.7 rebounds per game while chipping in 7.7 points per contest. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) is the team's top rim protector with four blocks over the opening three games of the year.
 
Through three contests, the Mount is averaging 64.0 points per game and is shooting 37.3-percent from the field overall. The Knights are shooting just over 30-percent from three-point range and are being outrebounded by better than nine caroms per contest.
Last Time Out: The Knights held a halftime lead over Misericordia in the consolation game of the Chuck Resler Tournament, but allowed the Cougars to shoot 67.9-percent from the field in the second half on their way to outscoring the Mount 52-38 after halftime to pull away for an 83-73 victory.
 
Francis poured in 23 points to lead the Mount, canning four triples, and handed out 10 assists without turning the ball over. Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) was the only other Knight in double-figures with 10 points with Fox and Zack Swaby (New Windsor, N.Y.) leading the way with six rebounds apiece.
 
Misericordia received 18 second half points from Patrick Douthit who led four Cougars in double-figures with 21 points. Noah Rivera finished off a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Misericrodia.
 
Overall, the Cougars converted at 56.6-percent for the game and 43.5-percent from the free-throw line, while the Knights shot 37.1-percent overall and 31.3-percent from bonus distance.
 
Scouting RPI: The Engineers are coming off an 80-60 non-conference win over Cobleskill on Tuesday to improve them to 1-2 overall on the season. RPI shot 43.8-percent from the field in the win and outscored Cobleskill by 28 points in the paint and 11 in points off turnovers on its way to its first triumph of the season.
 
Mason Memmelaar and Patrick Mahoney lead the scoring attack with 16.7 and 15.3 points per game respectively. The duo also leads the way on the glass with both players averaging 6.0 boards per outing. Memmelarr shoots and efficient 52.8-percent from the floor overall while Mahoney converts at 48.7-percent.
 
As a unit, RPI averages 63.3 points per game and is shooting 38.5-percent from the floor. The Engineers outrebound their opponents by 6.0 boards per game and are forcing nearly 16 turnovers per game.
 
Recent History: The two sides have not met since November 24, 2009 with RPI holding a 4-3 record spanning December 11, 1993 through the most recent matchup. The Knights have dropped the last three meetings with the Engineers with their last win coming in Newburgh on December 3, 2005 with an 83-69 victory.
 
What's Next: Following Friday's tilt, the Mount will be off until after Thanksgiving when it welcomes Hartwick to the Kaplan Center on December 2. Tip-off with the Hawks is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.