Canton, NY – The SUNY Canton men's basketball team came back from 11 down at halftime to knot the game at 43 all but ultimately dropped a 76-66 decision to visiting Clarkson University Wednesday evening in front of a packed crowd at the Roos House. The win improves the Golden Knights to 2-1, while the Roos fall to 0-3 as the two teams played for the second time in five days.
 
Both teams exchanged the lead early on before the Knights opened up a 13-point lead and took an 11-point advantage at 31-20 into intermission. John Coleman led all scorers in the opening half with eight points while Khalil Bratton (Queens, NY) and Rashad Richardson (Rochester, NY) netted six apiece for the Roos.
 
With 14:40 remaining in the second half Clarkson led 43-33 but the Roos up-tempo style and pesky defense sparked a 10-0 run. The spurt was highlighted by back-to-back dunks from Romario Fletcher (Queens, NY) and Bratton and bookended by three-pointers from Scott Dixon (Brooklyn, NY) and Khalid Vaughn (New York, NY). Over a span of 3:09 the hosts turned a 10-point deficit into a tie ball game much to the delight of a raucous crowd at the Roos House.
 
Clarkson responded with 11 straight points of their own, nine of which came from Marques Charlton and Felix Abongo. The Roos would trim the lead to seven on three different occasions and get as close as six with 39 seconds remaining as the Knights survived for a 76-66 victory.
 
Sam Annorh (Queens, NY) and Bratton led the Roos with 12 points each, while Vaughn chipped in 10 points and seven assists. Fletcher finished with six points and nine rebounds while Ellison contributed 8 points shooting 50 percent from the floor. Abongo led all scorers for Clarkson with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Charlton tallied 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Coleman added 10 points and nine boards.
 
The Knights held a 47-37 advantage on the glass, while the Roos were superior in bench scoring, 30-9. Both teams had 16 fast break points and SUNY Canton held a slight 38-36 edge in points in the paint. The Roos committed a season-low 12 turnovers, while forcing Clarkson to turn the ball over 17 times.
 
The men's basketball team returns to the hardwood Saturday when it hosts Alfred University at 3:00 p.m. in the Roos House. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter account.
 
About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier College for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The College delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management, and public service to students in the North Country, New York State, and beyond. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to their academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as eight exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The College's 14 athletic teams compete in state-of-the-art facilities as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.