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Potsdam, N.Y. - Sophomore backcourt mates Liam Ellis and Malaquias Canery combined for 32 points on 12-for-17 shooting to help lead the Clarkson University men's basketball team to a 74-65 Liberty League win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights evened their conference mark at 5-5 in the Liberty League and improved to 10-9 overall, while Rensselaer fell to 4-7 in league games while moving to 10-10 on the season.

Through the opening minutes of the first half it appeared as if the two teams would be playing a game in the 40s as neither team reached double figures until Andreas Kontopidis buried a 3-pointer for the Engineers at the 11:01 mark, giving RPI an 11-9 edge. Things began to speed up slightly from there as the two teams traded points for the next four minutes or so. Canery sunk a mid-range jumper at the 7:29 mark to give Clarkson an 18-16 lead, but Rensselaer went on a 12-3 run to gain a seven-point lead, its biggest of the half. Clarkson responded with nine straight points thanks to its two guards, Canery and Ellis, and Derek Hart, but a deep 3-pointer from Asa Barnhill at the buzzer pushed the Engineers back up by one at the half.

The Engineers shot 7-for-14 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half, but were just 4-for-12 inside the 3-point line. Clarkson struggled to control the ball, committing 11 turnovers, but the Knights shot well enough (10-for-22) to make up for the deficiency. Hart had 10 points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line, and added six rebounds. For Rensselaer, Brian Hatcher scored eight points.

Clarkson scored on its first possession of the second half and would never trail again. Matthew Hornak and Ellis each made 3-pointers to put the Knights up by nine (42-33), and despite foul trouble that sent Hart to the bench, Clarkson continued to make enough jumpers from both inside and outside the arc to keep the Engineers at a distance. On two occasions, Rensselaer crawled back to within five and with 3:24 to go Jonathan Luster made a 3-pointer to get the Engineers back within three (63-60). However, Michael Hayduk was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws with 2:21 to go, and on the Knights next possession he made a 3-pointer to push Clarkson back out to a nine-point lead with 1:45 remaining. From that point on Clarkson's two guards scored enough to keep the Engineers at bay, gaining a nine-point win.

The Engineers did a good job limiting Hart's touches, allowing the senior forward just seven shots from the field, but he still put up 14 points and nine rebounds. Ellis scored 16 points and added six rebounds and six assists, going 6-for-8 from the field. Canery tossed in 16 points, shooting 6-for-9 from the floor, and Drew Zlogar scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.

The Engineers were led by Kontopidis, who scored 20 points in 27 minutes off the bench, while Brian Hatcher added 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting.