There are two words that sum up the Rensselaer men’s basketball 2004-2005 season: consistently inconsistent. The Red Hawks have played well against the Liberty League’s best opponents, defeating the likes of Union, Hamilton, and Hobart, but have been cursed by critical losses to the league’s worst members.

This plague, that has nearly decimated the Red Hawks’ season, struck again as RPI, now 11-9 and 4-5 in league play, dropped a pair of conference road games against cellar dwellers St. Lawrence 79-69 on Friday in Canton, N.Y., and Clarkson 46-41 in Potsdam, N.Y. on Saturday.

“We did not execute,” Rensselaer Head Coach Mike Griffin said. “We made it extremely difficult on ourselves to win either game.”

The Saints certainly did not help the Red Hawks’ chances, shooting an amazing 51 percent from the field, including 46 percent from the three-point line. St. Lawrence’s Kevin Sullivan was 7-10 on the night, and made six of his seven makes came where from beyond the three-point stripe.

“It was not the three-point shooting that killed us,” Griffin declared. “They shot excellent inside the line as well. The loss is certainly a disappointment. St. Lawrence played well and we played ok.”

The game originally appeared promising for the Red Hawks who jumped out to a 26-12 lead after a layup by Tom Schneider with 8:06 remaining in the first half. However, that’s when the Saints began their 23-10 run, all but erasing the Red Hawk lead.

Rensselaer clung to the one point margin, but would lose the lead, and eventually the game, on an Aaron Marshall layup with just less than 18 minutes remaining in the second half. The Saints extended the lead to as many as 10 at several points thanks to hot shooting across the board, and hitting 24 of their 33 free-throw attempts. Rensselaer made just 13 trips to the charity stripe and shot a solid 43 percent from the field, but it was simply the Saints’ day.

“They got the ball inside, and made things happen,” Griffin said. “We had some good shots, but failed to convert when we got it close to the basket.”

Sullivan finished with 26 points for St. Lawrence while Marshall and Matt Blue scored 17 and 16, respectively. Paris Moore led RPI with 16 points and Schneider added 10.

The Saints, who have won just three league games and only five games all season, swept the season series with the Red Hawks.

However, the loss to the Saints was just the beginning of what turned out to be a horrendous road trip for Rensselaer as the Red Hawks forgot to show up for the game against the Golden Knights on Saturday.

RPI truly beat themselves in the Clarkson game; they shot a dismal 27 percent from the field. Clarkson did everything they could to keep the Red Hawks in the game, shooting just 38 percent and committing 14 turnovers, but Rensselaer could not find enough offense for the win.

“We didn’t show Saturday,” Griffin said. “One would think we are not a very good team after this weekend.”

John Van Schaick led the Red Hawks with 11 points and Schneider had 10 for the second straight game. The losses dropped Rensselaer into a two-way tie with Vassar for the dreaded fifth place spot in the conference. RPI will most likely need to win four of their last five games, three of which are at home, in order to sneak into the Liberty League Tournament.

Griffin admitted his team tends to play to the level of the competition, a trend he is not too fond of, but hopes will continue with Rensselaer’s last five games all against the five teams sitting ahead of them in standings. Griffin said his team has “little leeway” as they prepare to face first place Skidmore and fourth place Union. Rensselaer has already beaten Union once this year and lost to Skidmore by just five despite falling behind 12-0 to start the game.

“This is a big weekend with the first place team and Union coming here,” Griffin said. “With the amount of time you put into basketball throughout your life, all the players should be motivated to be a part of this.”

Rensselaer plays Skidmore Friday at 8 pm, and rival Union 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. Both games are in the Armory.