Troy, NY – A one-point lead in the final six minutes evaporated for the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team when the Golden Knights shot a combined 1-for-14 from the floor and the free throw line, giving Rensselaer a 66-60 victory over the Green and Gold in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights lost their second straight conference game to fall to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the Liberty League, while Rensselaer moved to 8-4 and 2-0. Clarkson will try to get on the winning track next weekend when it returns home to host Skidmore and Union.

Saturday’s game had a lengthy delay because of the sounding of a fire alarm, and the wait may have kept both teams from coming out hot. The two teams had nine lead changes in the first six minutes, but both were consistently off the mark. Clarkson shot just 14-for-35 from the field, but the Engineers were even worse off, going 8-for-31 from the floor. Rensselaer kept the half close by making all but one of its 12 free throw attempts, but the Knights were able to counteract that considerable discrepancy (Rensselaer was 11-for-12 from the line, Clarkson was just 1-for-1) by making five shots from the perimeter, including a Pat Mott (Moravia, NY) 3-pointer as the first half buzzer sounded.

In the second half, Rensselaer began with a 10-2 run in the opening five minutes to take the lead, but once again neither team could gain any significant advantage. The two teams tussled back and forth for the next 10 minutes with Clarkson taking a 58-57 lead with 5:32 remaining. Unfortunately, the Knights’ offense began to sputter in crunch time. Clarkson missed six straight free throw attempts and only a break away lay up kept the Knights from missing their final eight shots of the contest as well. Rensselaer took advantage of the opportunity, ending the game on a 9-2 run.

Senior guard Rey Jefferson (Budd Lake, NJ) led the Knights with 13 points, while Felix Llanos (Queens, NY) and Shawn Lasalita (San Diego, CA) each added 11. The Knights’ hot shooting from beyond the 3-point arc abandoned them in the second half as Clarkson struggled to go just 2-for-12 from outside in the final 20 minutes. Creating more problems was a significant deficit at the free throw line. Clarkson took only eight shots from the charity stripe, but didn’t help its cause by making only a single attempt. Conversely, Rensselaer made 19 of its 22 freebies, including some important conversions in the final moments when the Clarkson tried to get back into the contest.