FRESHMEN COMBINE TO SCORE 39, BUT KNIGHTS FALL TO UNION

January 13, 2006

Brian Salanger scored 14 point against Union - photo by Chris Lenney

Potsdam, NY - Six freshman combined to score 39 points for the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team, but the Golden Knights could not keep up with Union as the Dutchmen cruised to a 84-60 Liberty League win on Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights dropped to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in the Liberty League while Union improved to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Clarkson returns to action tomorrow against Skidmore College.

Clarkson could not find any answers in the opening minutes for the Union shooters as the Dutchmen raced out to a 11-0 lead in the first four minutes. Clarkson did not score until the 15:52 mark on a pair of free throws by John Chiero, but the Knights started their scoring spree from that point to cut into the Union lead. The teams went back and forth with 3-point field goals, but the Dutchmen made the most of their opportunities to take a double-digit advantage late in the half. Union shot 7-for-11 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half and went 16-for-34 overall. Clarkson was almost as good, shooting 5-for-10 from the 3-point line, but Union took better care of the ball with only four turnovers, while the Knights had 14.

Senior guard John Cagianello scored 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting to lead Union. Freshman Brian Salanger produced 11 points, shooting 3-for-4 from the 3-point line, to lead Clarkson in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half was more of the same for Union as the team continued its outstanding overall shooting performance, going 16-for-32 from the floor with just three turnovers. Clarkson improved its shooting percentage as well, going 11-for-24 from the floor, but turned the ball over nine times.

Salanger finished with 14 points and Will Zinsmeister (Cazenovia, NY) added 10 points. Ben Dudek (North Chili, NY), Matt Marra (Hampton, NH), Erik Storsberg (Whitesboro, NY) and Ryan Smith (Wilson, NY) also chipped in 15 points combined as the freshman class scored 39 of the team's 60 points.

Cagianello finished with a game-high 31 points on 14-for-22 shooting. Brian Scordato added 14 points and six rebounds for Union.

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