Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - It has been 80 years since the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team last won 12 times in its first 15 outings of a season, but on Friday night the Golden Knights joined two Depression-Era squads with a 66-50 victory over Bard College to improve to 12-3 overall.

The Green and Gold moved to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the Liberty League, becoming only the third team in program history to start a season with an .800 winning percentage through 15 games, tying the starts of the 1934-35 and 1932-33 teams. The 1934-35 team started the season 15-3 before finishing the year at 15-4 and the 1932-33 team played just a 16-game schedule and ended the year at 13-3.

It took nearly four minutes for Bard to get on the scoreboard on Friday, but the Knights had hardly put the game away, having tallied just four points themselves. However, up by just four (12-8) a few minutes later, Clarkson went on a 9-0 run to push its advantage to double figures, and though Bard would quietly edge back within nine and keep the game somewhat close, the Knights ended the half with a 10-0 run which was capped off by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Charles McAllister for a 40-19 lead at the break. Clarkson limited its mistakes in the first half and didn't allow the Raptors many additional opportunities, with the Knights gaining eight second-chance points on offensive rebounds and converting 13 points off Bard turnovers. Meanwhile, Bard scored no points in either situation in the first half.

With a 21-point advantage at the break, the Knights didn't need to change much for the second half, and little occurred after intermission that changed the outcome of the game. At the 16:26 mark, senior John Coleman recorded his 1500th career point, becoming only the second player in program history to reach that mark, and the Knights shortly increased their lead to as many as 26 points (53-27). Bard would slowly chip away at the deficit, but would come no closer than 15 late in the game.

Junior Felix Abongo produced an impressive all-around effort with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while senior Dylan Hodownes tossed in 13 points, five boards, and five assists himself. Coleman finished with 12 points, and Derek Hart came off the bench to score nine points in just 12 minutes of action. For Bard, Alex Fabean-Scotch had a game-high 14 points and Harry Johnson scored 10 points.