Troy, NY – Neither team shot particularly well Friday night, as the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team and Rensselaer each shot below 35% from the floor, with the Golden Knights coming up short in a 56-48 defeat in Liberty League action.

The Green and Gold dropped to 5-8 overall and 2-4 in the Liberty League and RPI moved to 11-2 and 5-1 in conference games. Clarkson faces Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a big lead in the early going as Jack Dalgety hit a 3-pointer and layup and Ryan Miles-Ferguson hit a pair of 3-pointers to put Clarkson up 11-1 barely two minutes after tip-off. The Engineers rallied to take the lead by the midway point of the half, but a Teddy Fravel dunk put Clarkson back up by two (19-17) at the 8:38 mark. From that point on, the two teams exchanged small runs. The Engineers scored nine straight points on three 3-pointers in a stretch of just 81 seconds, but Clarkson ended the half on a 9-0 run of its own, capped off by a 3-pointer from Malachi Harris, allowing Clarkson to take a two-point lead into the locker room (28-26).

The Engineers did their part defensively, holding Clarkson to just 37.9% shooting in the first half, but the Knights did even better on that side of the ball, keeping RPI to 7-for-26 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Clarkson also held a 23-16 advantage in rebounding, but was shot in the turnover battle, committing nine to RPI's four.

The offense remained tepid as the two teams continued to exchange the lead. RPI scored the first seven points of the second half to take a five-point lead, but the Knights then had nine straight to gain a four-point advantage. Neither team had more than what amounted to a one-possession advantage until Brian Kelly hit a 3-pointer for the Engineers at the 4:43 mark, making the score 45-39, but Malachi Harris responded back with a three at the other end to narrow the gap again to three. Finn Cork converted in the lane with 1:25 to go to keep the margin at three points, but Dom Black hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:03 to go for a six-point RPI lead, matching the largest of the half. The Engineers would hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Knights at a safe distance and pick up the win.  

Ryan Miles-Ferguson led Clarkson with 12 points while also adding in five rebounds, while Jack Dalgety was next on the scoresheet with seven points. Finn Cork also tossed in six points with seven rebounds. For RPI, Dom Black scored 13 points and also snagged seven rebounds while Will Rubin was the only other player in double figures, scoring 11 points.