Potsdam, NY - Distributing the ball well throughout the game, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team netted 23 assists on 31 makes to defeat the RIT Tigers 72-53 in Liberty League action Friday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 15-3 overall and 8-1 in the Liberty League, their best overall start since the 1934-35 season and their best conference record through nine games since the 2003-04 campaign. RIT dropped to 10-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference. Clarkson will take on Hobart tomorrow afternoon, while the Tigers will travel to face St. Lawrence.

In the first half, neither team shot particularly well and the game was close throughout. The Knights pushed their advantage to a first-half high of six at intermission (28-22), but the game seemed closer than that due to the lackluster offense. RIT was 9-for-30 from the field and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc, while the Knights shot just 2-for-15 from the 3-point line, but were much more efficient (10-of-16) on shots closer to the basket.

The second half immediately went the Knights way as they pushed the margin to 11 points just three minutes in after a John Coleman steal and lay up that forced an RIT timeout. After consecutive 3-pointers from Dylan Hodownes gave Clarkson a 46-33 advantage, RIT recovered and crawled back within eight at the 11:28 mark. Up by just nine a few minutes later, Clarkson went on a 9-1 run over a four-minute stretch to expand the lead to 17 points (60-43), forcing another Tigers' timeout, but RIT would be unable to stop the momentum. The Knights were up by more than 20 just a few moments later and finished the game with a 19-point edge.

John Coleman finished with 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and could have been even better had three shots not rattled out on him, and he also added four steals. Dylan Hodownes had a near double-double with 13 points and nine boards and also contributed six assists and a pair of steals. Felix Abongo also tossed in 10 points, five assists, three blocks and two steals and Jeremy Liss produced eight points and six boards. Charles McAllister had a team-high seven assists and also made two more steals for the Knights.

For RIT, freshman AJ Horde scored 15 points and added in six rebounds and three steals, but no other RIT player scored in double figures.