Rochester, NY - Senior Marques Charlton (Deer Park, NY) hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to set a new career-high for scoring as the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team was able to hold off a late comeback from Hartwick College in a 90-85 victory for the Golden Knights in the consolation game of the UofR/Holiday Inn Airport Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Knights improved to 4-2 overall on the season while Hartwick dropped to 3-4. Clarkson will close out the first semester at Elmira on Saturday afternoon.

Clarkson opened the game with four missed shots and a turnover in the first three minutes, but quickly found an offensive groove thanks to some outstanding shooting from the perimeter, especially from Charlton. Trailing by three points (26-23) with 5:13 remaining, the Knights scored nine points in three possessions with 3-pointers from Felix Abongo (Beacon, NY) and Charlton. The Knights would never trail again, but Hartwick also would not go away. The Hawks pulled within one on a pair of occasions early in the second half and finally came back to tie the game twice (54-54, 56-56) before another Charlton 3-pointer put Clarkson out ahead for good. The Knights lead expanded to 10 points (76-66) following a pair of free throws from John Coleman (Potsdam, NY), but Hartwick's shooters started making everything from the outside to keep the game within reach. Fortunately for the Knights, the 11 points from the Hawks' shooters in the final 40 seconds was negated by a strong run of free throw shooting down the stretch by Clarkson. The final basket of the game for Hartwick had the margin at just two points, but Charlton his a pair of free throws to give Clarkson a two-possession advantage and Dylan Hodownes (Honeoye Falls, NY) hit a free throw with a few seconds to go for the final point.

Charlton surpassed his previous career-high of 32 points set in league play last season with a game-high 33, shooting 9-for-15 from the floor, including 6-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Charlton also hit nine of his 11 free throw attempts. Coleman tossed in 20 points after a slow start in the first half and the junior finished six assists, three rebounds, and two blocks as well. Abongo tossed in 13 points, going 6-for-9 from the floor, and had a team-high seven rebounds while Jeremy Liss (Vestal, NY) contributed 10 points, making five of eight attempts from the field.

For Hartwick, Joey Lufkin had a team-high 18 points while Justin Pratt and Jared Suderley each contributed 17 points. The Hawks shot 8-for-14 from beyond the 3-point line (57.1%) in the second half.