Ithaca, NY – For the second straight day a slow start put the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team in an early hole from which it could not recover as the Golden Knights ended up on the wrong side of a 71-58 decision against Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fell to 3-11 overall and 2-5 in the Liberty League and will look to recover next weekend when the team hits the middle of its six-game road trip at Hobart and RIT. Ithaca edged back above .500 in the conference at 4-3 and moved to 8-6 overall.

It took nearly seven minutes before Clarkson got on the scoreboard, missing its first 11 shot attempts with six turnovers in the early going. Ithaca was not much better, but had enough offense to pull out to an 11-0 lead before Matt Higgins converted at the 13:06 mark for the Knights. The Bombers pushed their advantage to 17 following a pair of Cooper Mackin free throws at 2:27, making the score 33-16. Clarkson got out of its funk in the final two minutes, though, as Liam Ellis hit a 3-pointer at the 1:25 mark and two more baskets reduced the margin to 10 at the break (33-23).

Clarkson made just two of its 16 3-point field goal attempts in the first half, both coming from Ellis.

The Clarkson run that closed out the first half continued at the start of the second, as the Knights rattled off the first nine points after the intermission. Just like Friday's game, the Knights completed the comeback early on, tying the game at 35-35 on a Matthew Hornak 3-pointer at the 16:56 mark. Clarkson never did take the lead, however, as Ithaca received back-to-back 3-pointers from Sebastian Alderete to reclaim the lead. The two teams went back and forth over the next few minutes and the Knights were down by just four when Hornak buried a pair of free throws at the 4:36 mark (54-50). The game remained close with less than three minutes to go when Liam Ellis hit a 3-pointer to keep Clarkson within six, and a Matt Higgins free throw got the Knights to within five (61-56). That was the last gasp for the Knights, though, with Ithaca converting at the end of two straight shot clocks to gain a nine-point advantage in the final minute. The Bombers then went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 45 seconds to hold on for the victory.

Four players finished in double figures for the Knights with Ellis leading the way thanks to 15 points. Higgins, Hornak and Reese Swedberg each pitched in 11 points. Ellis also had seven rebounds and five assists, with Swedberg tying for the team lead in rebounds as well.

For Ithaca, Alderete finished the game shooting 8-for-12 for a contest-high 21 points. Peter Ezema tossed in 19 points and Riley Thompson recorded 15 points, getting eight from the free throw line. The Bombers recorded 15 steals in the game as Clarkson committed a season-high 25 turnovers.