The Golden Knights improved to 6-13 overall and 2-6 in conference play while Vassar dropped to 10-8 and 3-5 in the Liberty League. Vassar continues its upstate New York road trip with a 4:00 p.m. game at St. Lawrence Saturday afternoon.
In the first half, Vassar’s Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington)showed why he is a frontrunner for the conference’s Rookie of the Year as he scored 12 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and contributed two assists and two steals in the opening 20 minutes.
Besides Avitabile, however, the Brewers struggled from the floor as they shot 5-for-20 and he was 6-for-8. The Golden Knights took advantage of the Brewers’ struggles by making 12 of their 25 shots from the floor, including a 3-for-4 performance from beyond the 3-point line. The Knights ended the half with a 9-2 run with a pair of 3-point field goals from Brandon Rigg-Reives that gave Clarkson a 27-24 advantage at the half.
As Avitabile struggled early in the second half, the Golden Knights took advantage and extended their lead to nine with 8:01 remaining in the game. Though the Brewers cut the lead to five, they continued to miss shots, going only 6-for-28 in the second half. Late in the half, freshman Adam Larkin (Goffstown, NH) was able to score six points on three easy lay ups to give the Knights their double-digit victory.
The Golden Knights defense held the Brewers to only 36 points, nine points fewer than any other team has scored in any game this season among Liberty League teams. The Brewers didn’t make a 3-point field goal, shooting 0-for-16 from beyond the 3-point line.
Avitabile finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but shot only 2-for-10 in the second half. Senior guard Judson Winton (San Francisco, CA/University) also contributed 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the Brewers.
Clarkson saw three players enjoy solid games from the floor. Rigg-Reives was perfect until the final minutes, Larkin went 4-for-4 from the field and Kamal Crues (Rochester, NY) shot 5-for-8. Crues had 10 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Jon Youngmann (Corinth, NY) contributed six assists and senior Matt Decker (Whitney Point, NY) made six steals.