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Union sends CU men's hoops to Liberty League loss, 66-57

Posted 1/3/16

Schenectady, NY - On the wrong end of a 17-4 run early in the second half, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team fell to Union College 66-57 in the Liberty League season-opener on Saturday …

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Union sends CU men's hoops to Liberty League loss, 66-57

Posted

Schenectady, NY - On the wrong end of a 17-4 run early in the second half, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team fell to Union College 66-57 in the Liberty League season-opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fell to 3-7 overall and 0-1 in the Liberty League, while Union moved to 3-5 and 1-0. Clarkson will take on Rensselaer on Sunday afternoon and will then take to the floor of Alumni Gymnasium for the next five contests.

The two teams started off even, with Clarkson taking a modest five-point lead (21-16) after a Drew Zlogar 3-pointer at the 7:24. Remarkably, Zlogar's 3-pointer was the first basket made by someone other than Derek Hart and Conrad Zampier, who combined to score the team's first 14 points. Union came right back and the game was tied at 25-25 with 4:11 remaining in the first half. The Dutchmen then rattled off seven straight points to take a 32-19 lead, but that quick run was stopped by another Zlogar 3-pointer. Conrad Zampier made the last basket of the half with 46 seconds to go, as Clarkson trailed by six (36-30) at the break. The Knights shot close to 50 percent (10-for-21) in the first half, but committed 13 turnovers and allowed Union 12 offensive rebounds. The Dutchmen didn't shoot particularly well in the first 20 minutes, going just 12-for-35 from the floor.

Down by five early in the second half after a Felix Abongo lay up, the Golden Knights watched Union roll off a 12-2 run, capped by a Wade McNamara 3-pointer with 11:26 remaining in the game. Clarkson briefly ended that stretch with a basket, but the Dutchmen finished off their 17-4 run to take a 56-38 lead. Though the Knights would climb back to within 13 points on two occasions in the next few minutes, Union extended its lead to 20 points (65-45) with just under five minutes to go. The Dutchmen scored just one point in the final 4:45 as Clarkson chipped away but the Knights' run was too little too late.

Conrad Zampier finished with a team-best 17 points, going 6-for-10 from the floor, and also added six rebounds and three steals. Derek Hart shot 6-for-8 from the field for 12 points and also had two blocks, while Drew Zlogar also tossed in 10 points for the Knights. For Union, DeShon Burgess scored 23 points, shooting 8-for-16 from the floor. William Hython also added 10 points and Ryan Whelpley scored nine points and grabbed 12 boards.