SECOND HALF SPURT SPOILS KNIGHTS CHANCE TO END LOSING SKID

February 4, 2006

EJ Harrison drives to the basket against RPI. Harrison finished the game with 17 points - photo by Chris Lenney

Potsdam, NY – Senior forward Tom Schneider scored a game-high 30 points as Rensselaer recorded a double-figure comeback in the second half to finish with a 69-63 Liberty League win over the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights dropped to 4-16 overall and 1-8 in the Liberty League while Rensselaer kept is post-season hopes alive by improving to 8-11 and 6-3 in the conference. Clarkson faces archrival St. Lawrence on Tuesday at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights started off the first half hot, most notably EJ Harrison (Troy, NY). Harrison scored the first eight points of the game through the opening minutes and the Knights held a 13-4 run with three 3-point field goals and a pair of lay ups. With a 19-12 lead with about nine minutes remaining in the half, the Golden Knights went on a 12-0 run, including eight points by Brian Salanger (Syracuse, NY). Though the Red Hawks would occasionally dip the Clarkson advantage back below 15, the Knights held on for a 42-25 lead at the half.

Harrison scored 15 points in the opening half, shooting 4-for-7 from the floor and including three 3-pointers. Salanger had eight points in nine minutes. Tom Schneider scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for RPI.

Trailing by 19 at 17:41, the Red Hawks used a 7-0 run to bring the lead down to 12 and then slowly picked away at the lead midway through the half, dropping Clarkson’s advantage to three points with 7:06 left. At 4:12 of the game Tom Schneider converted a lay up in the middle of the paint to give Rensselaer it’s first lead of the game, 60-59. The Red Hawks moved their lead to five points before Clarkson ended an eight-minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws at 1:13 from Erick Vigansky (Kenosha, WI), who was also the last player to convert a field goal with a tip in at 9:17. The Red Hawks held their small lead through the end with several made free throws.

The game was a tale of two halves as the Knights shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half, but just 33.3 percent in the second half. Rensselaer was held to just 29.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but improved to 63.6 percent on 14-for-22 shooting in the second half.

Outside of Schneider’s 30 points, only Sam Simmons reached double figures, scoring 10 points. Schneider shot 10-for-17 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line for Rensselaer. For Clarkson, Harrison finished with 17 points while Salanger closed with 14 points and Vigansky added 11 points.

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