Potsdam, NY – A torrid shooting performance by the visitors combined with a tepid one by the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team allowed the Hamilton Continentals to come away with a 79-50 victory over the Golden Knights Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights saw their record fall below .500 for the first time this season, dropping to 11-12 overall and 3-9 in the Liberty League, while Hamilton improved to 14-7 and 8-4. Clarkson closes out the regular season next weekend when it visits Skidmore and Union.

Virtually nothing went right for the Golden Knights in the first half. After starting the contest with the opening basket, Hamilton turned on its offense and raced out to a double-digit lead. The Continentals made 11 of their first 14 shots from the field in the first 13 minutes of the contest, and in that same time frame Clarkson made only four of its 24 shots. The first half closed out with similar percentages, as Hamilton shot 63.0 percent (17-for-27) from the field and the Knights shot only 18.2 percent (6-for-33). Helping Clarkson out were its 10 offensive rebounds, providing nine second-chance points.

Two different players reached double figures in the first half for Hamilton, as Pat Sullivan scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, and Greg Newton added 10 points on a 5-for-5 performance. For Clarkson, Felix Llanos (Queens, NY) had seven points, going 3-for-6. The rest of the team was just 3-for-27 (11.1 percent).

Though the Knights had a few runs in the second half to cut into Hamilton’s lead, including a stretch of four 3-pointers from Felix Llanos, the final 20 minutes mirrored the first 20. The Continentals shot 54.5 percent in the second half (12-for-22) while Clarkson continued to struggle, finishing off 11 of 32 attempts.

Llanos had a game-high 21 points, shooting 4-for-5 from the 3-point line and 8-for-13 overall. Nate Uline (Gansevoort, NY) and Jonathan Hood (Cortlandt Manor, NY) each grabbed nine rebounds for the Knights.

For Hamilton, ten different players scored with nine recording at least one basket. Newton didn’t miss a shot, going 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line for a team-best 16 points. Pat Sullivan added in 14 points for the Continentals.