Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – On a day where the team made only one 3-pointer, shot just 55.0% from the free throw line and was outrebounded 40-24, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team still found a way to eke out a win, defeating Bard College 52-51 in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights pushed over the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the non-league schedule, improving to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Liberty League, while the Raptors remained winless in conference games at 0-5 and dropped to 2-12 overall.

Neither team got off to a strong start on offense and if it wasn't for seniors Derek Hart and Drew Zlogar the Golden Knights might have gone scoreless for a while. The duo combined to score the first 23 points of the game, but they also took 17 of Clarkson's first 23 shots. When Liam Ellis made a layup and became the first player besides Hart or Zlogar to score, he capped off a brief 6-0 run that gave Clarkson a four-point lead (25-21) with 2:33 to go. Although Bard would cut the deficit to one on two occasions, Keenan Gayle made a jumper with just a few ticks left in the half to put the Knights up by three at the break, 29-26.

Bard held a 21-12 advantage on the boards in the first 20 minutes, holding Clarkson to zero offensive rebounds in the first half on its 14 misses.

The Raptors remained close to Clarkson in the second half, but a stretch of four free throws from Malaquias Canery and Drew Zlogar gave the Knights a seven-point edge (46-39) with 7:18 remaining. Bard made up ground in the next few moments when Clarkson went 0-for-3 with two turnovers in its following five possessions, and the Raptors took the lead at the 3:59 mark when Joel Wincowski buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 48-46. Canery responded with a mid-range jumper at the other end and Hart later converted on the left side of the rim to help Clarkson regain the lead. After a Liam Ellis free throw made it 51-48, Bard was able to tie things up with a basket from Christopher Rodgers (1:16 left) and a free throw from Chris Lockwood (38 seconds left). With the score tied, Malaquias Canery found an open lane to the basket with 20 seconds left, but was fouled, and made the first of his two free throws to put the Knights back up by one. With just a few seconds left, the ball was deflected out of bounds to set up a final play for the Raptors. Joel Wincowski rolled around a screen and was one step ahead of Matthew Hornak, who was slowed down by the pick, but Chibuzor Ogbue stepped up to help on defense and Wincowski's shot was well off the mark to end the game.

Hart finished with 23 points, shooting 11-for-15 from the floor, and came up short of a double-double by one, closing the game with nine rebounds. Zlogar ended with 17 points and seven boards as he and Hart combined to shoot 16-for-29 from the field. For Bard, Chris Lockwood had 11 points and Christopher Rodgers produced 10 points, while Joel Wincowski chipped in nine points.