Knights Back on Track with 80-52 Win Over Cazenovia

Box Score

All fourteen players on the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team's roster scored at least one point, as the Golden Knights held Cazenovia College 30 points below its season average in an 80-52 rout in the opening round of the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic Friday evening, hosted by Springfield College.

The Golden Knights improved to 7-1 on the season and will face Springfield College in the Championship Game at 5:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Springfield defeated Regis College 61-60 to advance to the tournament championship.

Though it took a few minutes for Clarkson's offense to get acclimated to Cazenovia continuous pressure, the Knights got on the scoreboard at 17:08 on a Charles McAllister (Olathe, KS) 3-pointer and never trailed in the game. Clarkson raced out to an 11-2 advantage and pushed the lead to 21-7 with just over seven minutes to go and then gained a 21-point lead (32-11) with 3:27 remaining. Though Cazenovia would cut the margin to 16 at the half and would then climb back to within 14 points (43-29) early in the second half, Clarkson was able to get contributions from all of its roster. With a pair of 3-pointers midway through the half, Drew Zlogar (Clifton Park, NY) ended any hope of a Caz comeback, as the Knights edged out to as many as 32 points on four occasions before finally settling for a 28-point victory.

Zlogar finished as the game-high scorer, producing 14 points in just 10 minutes of play for Clarkson. Felix Abongo (Beacon, NY) added in 12 points and four assists, and though John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) was held to a season-low six points, he had season-highs of 10 rebounds and four assists. Coleman also made three more steals in the game, gaining solo possession of the program's all-time record in that category. Clarkson held a 22-3 advantage in assists and a 44-22 lead in rebounding. The Golden Knights also tied a Naismith Classic record with 14 3-pointers.

For the Wildcats, DeMarcus Bernard posted a team-best 11 points and Daniel Cunningham added in 10 points. Cazenovia shot just 5-for-23 in the first half before rallying to shoot better than 40 percent (11-for-26) in the second half. The Wildcats entered the game averaging 81.6 points per game, but were held to close to 30 points below their season-average through the first seven contests.

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Players Mentioned

#33 Felix Abongo: G; 6' 4"; Junior

#22 John Coleman: F; 6' 4"; Senior

#24 Charles McAllister: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#21 Drew Zlogar: F; 6' 5"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#33 Felix Abongo
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

#22 John Coleman
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

#24 Charles McAllister
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#21 Drew Zlogar
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: F