FIVE PLAYERS REACH DOUBLE FIGURES AS KNIGHTS EARN WIN OVER SKIDMORE

January 14, 2006

EJ Harrison drives the lane for two of his 14 points against Skidmore - photo by Chris Lenney

Potsdam, NY - Senior forward Russ Vitallo (Dracut, MA) scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead five Clarkson University Men's Basketball players in double figures as the Golden Knights defeated Skidmore 77-71 in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 4-9 overall and 1-1 in the conference while the Thoroughbreds dropped to 3-10 and 0-3. Clarkson visits Rensselaer and Vassar next weekend and will not play another home game until the first weekend of February.

Clarkson started off the game with a solid showing on both the inside and perimeter with a 15-5 run in the first four minutes, the Skidmore came back midway through the half with a 13-3 run over a 3:27 span to take a 27-26 lead. Trailing by six late in the half, Clarkson used its own 10-4 run to tie the game at 37-37 at halftime.

Vitallo was the top scorer for Clarkson with 11 points in the opening 20 minutes, but Jonah Haviland-Markowitz was even more impressive for the Thoroughbreds with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Greg Gallagher also had 10 points in the first half.

Clarkson picked up a few baskets in the early going of the second half to take a small advantage, but Skidmore would not go away despite an early nine-point lead for the Knights. On numerous occasions through the half, the Thoroughbreds scaled Clarkson's lead back to a single basket, but the team could never get the equalizer.

Junior guard EJ Harrison (Troy, NY) scored 14 points while freshman Ben Dudek (North Chili, NY) added 14 points and seven assists. Classmates Brian Salanger (Syracuse, NY) and Erik Storsberg (Whitesboro, NY) each contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Haviland-Markowitz and Gallagher each scored a game-high 22 points for Skidmore. Matt Belsito came off the bench to score 12 points while Reed Juckett added 10 points. The Thoroughbreds shot 54 percent from the floor, but grabbed only three offensive rebounds to Clarkson's 13. The Golden Knights shot 47.5 percent from the floor.

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