Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – Seniors Blake Gearhart and Ryan Miles-Ferguson combined for 33 points as the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team picked up a 58-42 Liberty League victory over Bard College on Friday evening.

The Golden Knights halted their losing skid to improve to 6-11 on the year and 3-7 in conference contests, while Bard fell to 6-12 and 3-8. Clarkson looks to earn the weekend sweep when the team takes on Vassar College on Saturday afternoon.

The 42 points allowed by the Knights were the fewest an opponent has scored against Clarkson since the 2014-15 season, when the Green and Gold held Vassar College to 38 points.

Offense was slow in the opening minutes, as the teams were stuck at a pair of field goals until close to eight minutes had expired. Blake Gearhart hit a shot at 12:22 and Ryan Miles-Ferguson followed with a 3-pointer to get Clarkson going as the Golden Knights slowly built a double-digit lead. Up 18-7 after a 3-pointer from Malachi Harris, the Raptors responded with a strong defensive stretch and climbed back to within four. However, a Jack Dalgety 3-pointer in the final minute put the margin at seven at the break.

Neither team shot particularly well in the opening 20 minutes, with Clarkson just 9-for-33 from the floor and Bard going only 6-for-26. Each team was also below 25% from beyond the 3-point arc, and both teams were held to just two free throws.

Bard pulled to within one in the early going of the second half (26-25), but Clarkson went on a small run to extend the lead to seven with 12:03 to go. That margin extended to 10 just two minutes later as Aydin Kocak hit a jumper just inside the 3-point line at 9:59 to put the score at 38-28. Though Bard briefly put a scare into Clarkson by cutting the deficit to four, the Green and Gold utilized a strong stretch to put the game away. Matteo Sinon buried a 3-pointer, the Knights were awarded a free throw on a flop, and then another 3-pointer from Jack Dalgety at the 5:05 mark gave Clarkson its biggest lead of the game to that point, a gap of 12 points. In the waning moments, Bard was forced to foul in hopes of getting more possessions, but the Raptors' offense wasn't up to the task and Clarkson held on for a double-digit victory.

Gearhart finished with 18 points, going a flawless 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Miles-Ferguson added 15 points and also snagged five rebounds. No other Clarkson player had more than six points. For Bard, Greg Farrow had a team-best seven points.