Geneva, NY – A slow start put the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team into a significant early deficit from which the team could never completely recover as the Golden Knights came up short in their comeback attempt 76-65 against Hobart in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights saw their record fall to 9-8 overall and 5-5 in the Liberty League, while Hobart moved to 12-5 and 6-4. Clarkson is on the road again next weekend, taking on Vassar College and Bard College in a third straight road trip.

Clarkson fell into an early hole, trailing by seven in the first four minutes before a Braeden Burns 3-pointer at 15:44 to get the Knights on the board. That would be it for a while, however, as the Statesmen then scored 11 straight, finished off by a dunk from Dorian Paki at 13:28. The Knights' offensive struggles continued in the first half as the Knights fell behind by 19 when Niko Lutz hit a 3-pointer at the 6:53 mark. Clarkson finally got into a bit of a groove on offense, but couldn't stop the Statesmen at the other end, and Hobart maintained its 19-point lead on three separate occasions. Only a 7-0 run in the final 80 seconds of the half got Clarkson back into the game, as the Knights trailed by 12 at the break.

The Knights continued their run to start the second half, climbing back to within just six at 44-38 when Burns went to the basket for a layup-and-one at the 17:40 mark. Down by seven a few minutes later, Clarkson was on the wrong end of an 11-2 run capped by a Lutz 3-pointer at 9:10, making the score 60-44. Despite the run, the Knights would not go away, pulling back to within 11 on a Jack Dalgety 3-pointer at 5:14, and then within single digits when Burns made a layup 24 seconds later. Hobart had trouble with some pressure from the Knights' defense and Clarkson continued its comeback when Burns got an offensive rebound off a free throw miss and finished with a reverse layup to make it 71-65 with 2:31 to go, but those proved to be the final points for the Knights as Hobart held on for the win.

Hobart finished the game shooting 48.2% from the floor (27-for-56), missing one more shot than it would make in each half, but Clarkson forced 18 turnovers, including 13 in the second half. On the other side of the ball, the Statesmen limited Clarkson's second chances to just three offensive rebounds with a massive 47-21 edge on the glass overall.

Braeden Burns led all scorers with 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting before fouling out in the final minute of the game. Jack Dalgety added 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting with three 3-pointers while both Lorenzo Rappa and Steve DeRegis chipped in 10 points apiece.

For Hobart, Alex Moesch shot 7-for-13 for a team-best 20 points. Carter Meshanic also added 14 points, going 7-for-9 from the floor.