Potsdam, NY – With only two misses from the free throw line in the entire game, Oswego State took advantage of every little miscue by the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team, defeating the Golden Knights 82-66 in non-league action Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
Clarkson dropped to 1-2 on the season and is off from game action for the next week, when it will host crosstown rival SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday, November 28th. Oswego State improved to 1-2 with the win.
Both teams were making plenty of shots in the early going, with Clarkson jumping out to a 14-10 lead after a Matthew Hornak 3-pointer at the 15:09 mark, but Oswego slowly came back and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Louis Avellino at the 10:30 mark, giving the Lakers a 19-18 lead. That make marked the beginning of a streaky run by the Lakers from deep, as the team made five of six from long range over the next five minutes to push their lead to 35-24 with 5:27 to go in the half. Oswego extended its lead to 13 with a pair of free throws from Josh Ivey less than two minutes later, but Clarkson trimmed the lead back to single digits when Matt Higgins put back his own miss with 1:27 left. Two more free throws for the Lakers put Oswego back up by double figures at the break.
Gary Hanley and Matt Higgins made shots in the lane in the first few minutes of the second half to get the Knights back within seven, but the Lakers responded with a 7-0 run to push the margin back up to 14 points at 15:29. Clarkson briefly got back to within 12 a few moments later, but the Lakers ran off eight straight points, including five by Liam Sanborn on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer, to take a 20-point advantage. Clarkson freshman Robert Welch got hot with a pair of 3-pointers and Joe Lucas buried a long-range shot to get the Knights back to a deficit of 14 with 6:32 to go, but the Knights couldn't get another 3-pointer to go in until the final minute as Oswego extended its advantage with a strong effort from the free throw line.
The Lakers shot 24-for-26 from the line and also committed just 10 turnovers compared to Clarkson's 8-for-12 effort from the free throw line with 16 turnovers. Otherwise, the two teams were essentially even in their rate from the field, with Clarkson shooting 46.2% overall and Oswego State making 45.1% of its shot attempts. The Lakers also made 12 3-pointers while the Knights countered with 10 3-point makes.
Liam Ellis led the Knights with 16 points and also kicked in six rebounds, and Robert Welch scored 14 points, going 4-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers. Matt Higgins also added 10 points, five boards and two blocks in 25 minutes. For Oswego State, Jamir Ferebee was a flawless 11-for-11 from the line to push his point total to a game-high 24. Ian Schupp was steady from beyond the arc and just inside with plenty of makes in the mid-range for 22 points and Liam Sanborn also added 12 points.
