Potsdam, NY – Senior Blake Gearhart scored 23 points in just 26 minutes of time on the court, but his effort was not enough as Ithaca made 14 3-pointers to claim a 91-76 win over the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team on Friday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights saw their mark fall to 9-13 overall and 6-9 in Liberty League contests, while Ithaca edged upward to 16-6 and 12-3. Clarkson will celebrate its large Class of 2023 basketball players on Saturday afternoon when the team takes on Rensselaer.

Despite turning the ball over twice in its first two possessions, Clarkson rolled out to an early five-point lead in less than four minutes, taking a 12-7 advantage after a Blake Gearhart layup. The two teams would then go on limited streaks of offense, exchanging runs. Ithaca scored the next 11 points in the three minutes, only to see Clarkson score the following seven. The Bombers then rattled off a 14-2 streak, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Aidan Holmes to put the score at 35-23. However, the Knights then battled back to get within two with a strong run of makes from Ryan Miles-Ferguson, trimming the margin to a single possession at 36-34. Once again, though, Ithaca utilized the 3-point shot and scored the next 11 points, with Luka Radovich's 3-pointer at the 2:06 mark making the score 47-34, and the Bombers went into the locker room with a 13-point advantage.

Ithaca also picked up points on second chance opportunities, scoring nine points off seven offensive rebounds. Blake Gearhart tossed in 15 in the first half, while Radovich nearly notched a double-double in the opening 20 minutes with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The margin remained in double digits for the first eight minutes of the second half, but a 3-pointer from Blake Gearhart finally trimmed the gap to nine points at 11:34, and was reduced to eight 32 seconds later on a free throw from Ryan Miles-Ferguson. However, that was the last gasp for the Knights, as Ithaca went on an 18-2 run in the next five minutes to put the game away.

Gearhart scored 23 points, going 5-for-11 from beyond the arc, while Ryan Miles-Ferguson scored 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, adding in four assists. For Ithaca, Logan Wendell finished with 23 points and Radovich had 21 points and 10 boards.