Potsdam, NY – Junior Matt Higgins scored a season-high 26 points, his third consecutive 20-point game, as the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team held on for an 89-85 win over Bard College on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights picked up their third straight win to move to 3-9 overall and 2-3 in the Liberty League, while the Raptors fell to 6-5 and 2-2 in conference games.

Clarkson came within one of its season-high for 3-point field goals, nailing 15 long-range shots overall, as four different Golden Knights hit multiple 3-pointers.

Bard found itself up by seven near the midway point of the first half as David Runcie's lay in at the 11:15 mark put the Raptors up 15-8. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Higgins and Phelps gave Clarkson the lead just three minutes later as the Knights went on a 14-1 run in less than four minutes. Bard slowly got back into the contest, tying the game at 31-31 when Runcie gathered a steal and dunked on the fast break on the other end, but Joe Lucas hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to give Clarkson a narrow edge at halftime.

Clarkson extended its lead to seven in the early going of the second half and was up by six at the 17:00 mark when Chris Hulbert hit a 3-pointer, but the two teams then exchanged runs as the momentum shifted back and forth. Bard went on a 12-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from the top of the key from Jelani Bell-Isaac, but the Knights responded with a 9-0 run of their own, reclaiming the lead near the midway point of the half. Clarkson extended that advantage to as many as 10 on two occasions and appeared ready to close the game out in the final six minutes, but Bard's Alijah Rue had other things in mind.

Rue hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Raptors back within six and then went inside for two straight layups a few moments later to make the score 80-77 in favor of Clarkson. The margin was reduced to a single point in the final minute when Justyn Rogers converted inside, but Hulbert hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to push the Knights' advantage back to three. With less than eight seconds to go, Rue hit the front end of two free throws, but a Bard player rushed in to the paint on the second attempt, drawing a violation and give Clarkson the ball. Matt Higgins then hit a pair of free throws at the opposite end to put the game out of reach for the Raptors.

Higgins scored 26 points on 8-for-19 shooting, while Jason Phelps hit some big step-back 3-pointers in the second half for 16 points, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc with four long range shots coming in the final 20 minutes. Hulbert and Lucas added in 14 points and 12 points, respectively, while Reese Swedberg grabbed 11 rebounds for the Knights.

Five players finished in double figures for Bard, led by Alijah Rue's 25 points (9-for-21 from the floor). Justyn Rogers and Jelani Bell-Isaac each added 14 points while David Runcie contributed 12 points and Armando Dunn had 10 points. Rue also contributed nine rebounds and five assists in the game and Runcie recorded four steals.