Potsdam, NY – Topping 80 points for the first time since the 2006-07 season, the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team came back from Thanksgiving break to handle SUNY Canton 86-50 Sunday night at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 4-1 overall with their second straight victory, and will look to avenge their only loss of the season on Tuesday when they host Potsdam State. Canton fell to 0-6 in 2008.

From the opening tip, Canton struggled to deal with the Golden Knights’ superior height and failed to close out on Clarkson’s 3-point shooters. Those liabilities allowed the Knights to jump out to a 19-0 lead in the first 6:13 of the game, including eight points by junior guard Keith Murray (Queens, NY). Clarkson’s aggressiveness on defense allowed the Kangaroos to get back into the game slightly, but another run in the final six minutes of the half pushed Clarkson’s lead to 26. Over the final 6:07, the Knights went on a 20-7 run, which included five 3-pointers, with Elson Pickering (Brooklyn, NY) serving as the catalyst in the middle, finding the open shooters once the defense collapsed on him in the middle.

Murray and freshman Felix Llanos (Queens, NY0 each had 11 points and three 3-point field goals in the first half. Brandon Linton (Queens, NY) also added nine points and three assists, while Pickering had five assists. Canton’s scoring was equally distributed as Lowell Stevens led the Kangaroos with five points.

After a quick burst to start the second half gave Clarkson a 30-point lead, the game wasn’t really in doubt. The Knights occasionally doubled up the Kangaroos as both teams emptied the benches, allowing all but two Clarkson players to record a basket.

Linton finished with a game-high 15 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor, and Llanos closed with 13 points. Murray finished with 11 and George Koduah (Accra, Ghana) had nine points. Clarkson’s 86 points were the most the team has scored since early in the 2004-05 season, a stretch of 104 games.

For Canton, Silvon John led Canton with 10 points and Stevens finished with 10 points as well.

Clarkson out rebounded Canton 43-32, and the Knights committed just seven turnovers in the contest.