Adam Dudzinski's 24 points helped the the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team secure a tie for first place in the final Liberty League regular season standings with a spirited 68-53 win over Rensselaer Saturday afternoon on senior day.

With the result, the Saints, holding the two-seed, will host the winner of the first-round Liberty League game between Rensselaer and Bard Friday evening at Burkman Gymnasium in the conference semifinals, with a chance to return to the Liberty League championship game for the second straight year.

"We are very proud of our finish to the season, and being co-champions of the Liberty League," said head coach Chris Downs after the game. "We will re-group, try to get healthy this week and get ready for the semifinals next Friday. It's a fun time of year; I'm proud and excited to see what this team can accomplish next."

Since the game featured two teams tied for first, it was a playoff-type atmosphere at Burkman Gymnasium, and that was clear from the opening tip. RPI had the game's opening points before St. Lawrence took a 4-3 lead. They extended it to 14-8 before the halfway mark of the first half.

The Engineers slowly chipped away at the Saints lead until the 3:58 mark of the third, when PJ Scalisi tied the game with a three-ball, and it was 21-21. Dudzinski then took the game over offensively, scoring eight of the Saints' next 12 points to help the Scarlet and Brown to a 33-26 lead at halftime.

St. Lawrence again stretched their lead out to as high as 14 early in the half, but the see-saw nature of the contest continued to be a theme – the Engineers worked their way back into the game with 11 unanswered points to make the score 42-40 at 14:02 of the second.

The score remained tight until the eight-minute mark, when Adam Dudzinski took possession of the ball with the score at 51-49. He then blew the roof off the gym with a big three-pointer at the 8:24 mark of the second to stretch the St. Lawrence lead to five, sparking a 9-0 run to give the Saints some breathing room.

It ultimately led to a 15-point win for the Saints – they outscored the Engineers 35-27 in the second half.



Dudzinski's 24 led the Saints offensively, and was a career-high for him in a conference game. Senior Trey Syroka pitched in with 12 of his own on senior day; he also went 7-8 from the charity stripe.

The Saints may face the Engineers once more Friday, Feb. 23, pending on the result of their first-round contest versus Bard.