Potsdam, NY – Erick Vigansky (Kenosha, WI) and Jon Youngmann (Corinth, NY) each scored 14 points as the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team picked up its second straight victory with a 59-48 win over Utica College Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
The Golden Knights improved to 7-2 on the season while Utica dropped only its second game of the year, falling to 6-2. Clarkson travels to Oswego to take on the Lakers on Friday, but return to host Cazenovia on Sunday, closing out the non-conference schedule before opening Liberty League play in 10 days.
The two teams felt each other out in the opening minutes as both teams’ defenses contained the opposing offensive chances. With the score tied 12-12 with only seven minutes remaining, the Golden Knights went on an 11-0 run over the next five minutes for a 23-12 advantage. Utica returned the favor with a 6-0 run near the end of the half as the Knights closed the period up seven, 25-18.
The Golden Knights defense locked down the strong Utica offense in the first half, holding the Pioneers to 24.1 percent shooting (7-for-29) from the floor, but the Knights couldn’t put together much more, shooting 9-for-27 from the field (33.3 percent). Vigansky scored a team-high 11 points in the first half, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Doug Herring scored half of Utica’s 18 points in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Knights went up by as many as 13 points early on, but Utica came back to cut it to four, 37-33, with nine minutes remaining. After the Utica run, the Knights steadily increased their lead and matched their 13-point advantage with just over a minute to go and held on for an 11-point victory.
The Knights held Utica to only 48 points for the game, 36 points below the team’s average in the first seven games this season, and easily their lowest figure of the year, though the team was without its leading scorer. Doug Herring scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but shot just 6-for-20 from the floor. The Pioneers finished the game at 30.4 percent from the field (17-for-56), while Clarkson shot 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) in the second half. EJ Harrison (Troy, NY) added 11 points and Elson Pickering (Bronx, NY) scored nine for the Knights while Jack Lighthall added 11 points for Utica.
