Plattsburgh, NY – Junior Elson Pickering (Brooklyn, NY) scored the go-ahead basket with 1:36 remaining and then made a vital steal with five seconds to go to assure the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team of a victory, claiming a 59-58 win over Plattsburgh State Tuesday night at Memorial Hall.
The Golden Knights moved to 3-1 overall with their first victory over Plattsburgh since 2002-03. The Cardinals dropped to 2-2. Clarkson returns to action on Sunday night when it hosts SUNY Canton.
In the first half, the two teams traded control of the contest. For the first 10 minutes, Plattsburgh leapt out to a lead of as many as six points on a few occasions, but after a 3-point field goal by freshman Felix Llanos (Queens, NY) midway through the half, Clarkson grabbed a 20-19 lead and would not trail for the remainder of the period, ending with a 37-35 advantage. Llanos finished with 10 first-half points for the Knights, shooting 4-for-6 for the half, and junior Brandon Linton (Queens, NY) scored 11 points. George Koduah (Accra, Ghana) also had six points on 3-for-3 shooting, and blocked three shots.
In the second half, Clarkson had a 5-0 lead in the first few minutes to extend its lead to seven points. Trading baskets throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, Clarkson still maintained a five-point advantage, 52-47, after a free throw from Ryan Smith (Niagara Falls, NY). The next six minutes were unpleasant for the Golden Knights, as the team remained scoreless with six turnovers and six missed shots (three from the field, three from the free throw line) while Plattsburgh came back to take the lead. A Keith Murray (Queens, NY) 3-pointer ended the run by the Cardinals, but neither team scored much in the waning minutes.
Pickering’s basket with under two minutes to go was the only score for either team in the final moments as both teams were unable to get the ball to fall. In addition to Pickering’s late steal, Keith Murray blocked a shot with 12 seconds to go to deny the Cardinals a good look at the basket.
Linton finished with a team-high 18 points (going 8-for-15 from the field) and six assists. Llanos also scored 14 points for Clarkson. Chris Ruiz scored a game-high 25 points for the Cardinals, and Errol Daniyan added 19 points for Plattsburgh.
