Troy, NY - For the second straight day the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team topped 80 points, but unfortunately for the Golden Knights it was the second straight day that they came away with a loss as the team fell to Rensselaer 88-83 in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights dropped to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in Liberty League games while Rensselaer ticked a game above .500 at 6-5 overall and 1-1 in conference games. Clarkson will take on Bard College and Vassar College next weekend at Alumni Gymnasium.

Despite the frenetic pace in the early going, neither team scored much in the opening minutes of the contest as the two teams were knotted up 14-14 through the first eight minutes. The tide turned in the next 10 minutes with a total of 42 combined points and Clarkson led by four points with just over two minutes to go. However, the up and down pace provided for a quick turn around and RPI went on a 10-0 run in less than two minutes to take a six-point lead, and the Engineers finished the half with a four-point advantage, 43-39.

The two teams traded points throughout the second half with RPI holding anywhere between a four-point to a seven-point for the first portion of the second half. A 3-pointer from Brendan Farley at the 10:13 mark gave the Engineers their first double-digit advantage and RPI continued to hold a solid edge for the next few minutes. However, a John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) lay in brought the Knights back to within four points with 3:51 remaining and gave Clarkson a chance to make a comeback. Trailing by seven points two minutes later, the Knights were unable to get back into the contest despite three chances at the basket on one possession, and never were able to cut the lead to less than four points before finally falling by five.

Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) scored a team-high 24 points for Clarkson, making nine of his 22 shots in the game. John Coleman was just a basket shy of his brother with 22 points, going 11-for-16 from the field, and also added eight rebounds and two steals. Freshman Felix Abongo (Beacon, NY) added in nine points and sophomore Charles McAllister (Olathe, KS) added nine points, going 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc.

For Rensselaer, Brendan Farley had a game-high 28 points, making 10 of his 15 attempts from the floor, while adding seven rebounds. Tyler Gendon contributed 15 points, making five 3-pointers