Canton, NY - Running into the locker room at halftime, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team had to feel confident with a one-point advantage against archrival St. Lawrence, but the Golden Knights lead quickly evaporated into a stunning 74-48 Liberty League loss to the Saints on Tuesday night at Burkman Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights dropped to 11-8 overall and 2-6 in the Liberty League, while St. Lawrence hoisted itself into a first-place tie in the conference at 6-2 and 16-3 overall.

Clarkson slowed the pace in the first half, something it was unable to do against the Saints in the first meeting of the season, and came away with a one-point advantage, 26-25, while holding SLU to 9-for-29 shooting (31.0%) from the floor, including just 1-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. The second half was a different story for the Saints as the team increased the tempo and blitzed Clarkson for a 66.7% in the final 20 minutes (20-for-30 from the floor). In the opening six minutes of the second half, Clarkson was held to just a single field goal as St. Lawrence ran off a 20-2 spurt to take a 17-point lead, 45-28, with 14 minutes remaining. Though Clarkson was occasionally able to cut into the lead, the Saints kept pushing and increased their advantage to the final 26-point margin.

Senior forward Erick Vigansky (Kenosha, WI) scored a team-high nine points to lead Clarkson, adding in four rebounds, which also led the squad. EJ Harrison (Troy, NY) also contributed seven points to go along with four boards and two steals.

St. Lawrence saw four players finish in double figures, led by Bela Vonnak, who scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in just 19 minutes. Tom Wopperer added 14 points and Josh Sharlow contributed 12 points, 7 assists and 4 steals. Ben Augliano also scored 12 points for the Saints.