TROY, N.Y. - Mason Memmelaar had game-highs of 22 points and nine rebounds and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team held St. Lawrence University to only 45 points in defeating the Saints 54-45 in a Liberty League game at East Campus Arena. The first place Engineers improve to 18-4 overall and 12-3 in the conference, while St. Lawrence slips to 13-9 and 7-8.

A senior forward, Memmelaar made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and 4 of 6 attempts from the free throw line to register his third 20+ game of the season. Six of his rebounds came on the defensive end and he added two assists in 30 minutes of work. Junior Jonny Angbazo also reached double digits with 13 points, while Dom Black had eight points, three rebounds, an assist, two blocked shots and four steals. 

Will Engelhardt led the visitors with 10 points, while Trent Adamson had nine points and 10 rebounds while playing 34 minutes.

Following a first half that saw only 47 points scored, 25 by RPI, the second half began with the Engineers getting a jumper from Memmelaar and a three pointer from Brian Kelly for a 30-22 advantage a minute in. Gavin Macaulay got the Saints on the board, but Black hit a trey to push Rensselaer's lead to nine points, 33-24. 

A three from Will Fredericks put RPI ahead by double digits at 11:43 and Memmelaar followed with a layup 1:10 later for a 38-26 bulge. A Liam McDonald triple less than a minute later cut it to nine points (38-29), but Angbazo finished the 17-7 run with a layup for a 42-29 lead with eight minutes to play. The lead climbed to as many as 16 points with 6:33 to go before St. Lawrence chipped it to seven points twice in the final minute, but they could not get within two possessions.

Rensselaer is back home on Saturday at 4pm to face Clarkson University, while SLU visits Ithaca College at the same time.