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Phelps tosses in collegiate-high 17 in Knights men's basketball loss at RPI

Posted 2/17/19

Troy, NY – Sophomore Jason Phelps finished with a career-high 17 points for the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team, but a late first-half run by Rensselaer sent the Golden Knights to a 78-64 …

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Phelps tosses in collegiate-high 17 in Knights men's basketball loss at RPI

Posted

Troy, NY – Sophomore Jason Phelps finished with a career-high 17 points for the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team, but a late first-half run by Rensselaer sent the Golden Knights to a 78-64 defeat on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights closed out the season with a record of 6-19 overall and 5-13 in the Liberty League. Rensselaer advanced to the playoffs and improved to 15-10 and 10-8 in league games.

RPI shot 27-for-47 (57.4%) in the game and went 9-for-19 from beyond the 3-point arc (47.4%).

After just a few minutes elapsed, RPI went on a 9-2 run to double up the Golden Knights, and the Engineers led by nine at the 12:14 mark when Kevin Davis hit a 3-pointer. Clarkson got back into the game when reserve Jason Phelps got hot from outside, hitting three 3-pointers in a two-minute span, with the last one also earning him a trip to the free throw line for a four-point play, making the score 24-22 at the 10:00 mark. Clarkson was unable to complete the comeback, but still remained in striking distance for the next four minutes. However, RPI ended the half on a 14-2 as Clarkson shot just 1-for-8 from the field and the Engineers scored five times in 10 trips down the floor.

Clarkson shot 40.0% from the field (12-for-30) in the first half, but the Engineers were other-worldly, shooting 66.7% (18-for-27) with seven 3-pointers in 11 tries.

The Knights cut into the deficit in the first four minutes as RPI struggled offensively out of the break, going 0-for-4 from the field with three turnovers. Clarkson was within 10 when Phelps finished off a layup inside at the 14:42 mark, but the Engineers got their offense going when Mitchel Wayand responded with a 3-pointer at the other end. Clarkson would trim the margin to 11 points twice in the next few minute and finally reduced it to single digits thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Joe Lucas (6:34) and Phelps (5:56). Clarkson stayed within nine for the next few minutes, but a Wayland layup and free throw at the 3:20 mark helped the Engineers return their lead to double figures.

Phelps scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-11 overall with four 3-point field goals. Matt Higgins finished with 11 points, all in the second half, and Roburt Welch added eight points, all in the first half. Five players finished in double figures for the Engineers, led by Andres Kontopidis, who had 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Mitchel Wayand added 15 points and Marcus Giese scored 13 points, with both players shooting 5-for-7 from the floor.