Rochester, NY - Junior John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) was hot from the start and the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team leaned heavily on him in the first half while the rest of the Golden Knights found their shooting groove in the second half as the Green and Gold claimed a 83-71 Liberty League victory over RIT Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights' much needed win pushed them to 13-9 overall this year and 7-6 in the Liberty League standings with the sweep of RIT. The Tigers fell to 14-9 overall and 8-6. Clarkson closes out the regular season with three home games, taking on St. Lawrence on Tuesday and facing Bard and Vassar over the weekend.

RIT came out hot with 17 points in the first 5:30, setting a pace of well over 100 points for the game. However, that rate wasn't likely to hold, especially after Clarkson held the Tigers scorless for nearly eight minutes, changing a six-point deficit into a 10-point lead after a Michael Hayduk (Clinton, NY) 3-pointer. The Knights held something close to a double-digit lead for most of the final six minutes of the half, but RIT picked up five points in the final 46 seconds, including a last-second 3-pointer from Jameel Balenton, to close the margin to just three points.

John Coleman had more than half of Clarkson's 35 points (18) in the first half, shooting 9-for-13 from the field while Marques Charlton (Deer Park, NY) and Felix Abongo (Beacon, NY), who average more than 31 points per game collectively, combined for just two points.

Despite the late rally by the Tigers, the momentum had shifted in favor of the Knights and the halftime break did little to calm the Clarkson offense. Up by five points (41-36) at the 17:58 mark, Charlton began hitting shots from the perimeter and turned a modest advantage into a 15-point lead in just two minutes. The Clarkson lead would never grow larger than 15 points, but every time that the Tigers made a mini-run to get back within striking distance, the Golden Knights shooters would respond with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double figures. Several times in the waning minutes, RIT pulled to within 10 points, but could not get the lead into single digits and the Knights' free throw shooting down the stretch held off the Tigers.

Coleman finished with 29 points, shooting 14-for-20 from the floor, and added in nine rebounds, becoming only the 14th player in the last 40 years to surpass 500 in a career at Clarkson. Charlton rallied from a disappointing first half to finish with 22 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half. Charles McAllister (Olathe, KS) also posted solid across the board numbers with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. RIT had five players in double figures, led by Jameel Balenton's 18 points.