Schenectady, N.Y. - A lead at halftime slowly evaporated in the second half as the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team fell to Union College, 85-70, Saturday afternoon. 

The Knights move to 4-4 overall, 0-3 in the Liberty League while Union improves to 6-2 overall, 2-0 in conference. Clarkson will have the upcoming week off from competition before playing host to Alfred State on Monday, December 15th with tip-off scheduled for noon.

Trading buckets early-on, Union would get out to a 9-5 lead following a Tanner Tedesco mid-range pull-up. Starting just 2-8 from the field prior to the first media timeout spelled a slow start for the Golden Knights as the deficit would get up to 12-5 following a Tedesco three. The lead would quickly close to just two with a tough finish at the rim from Steve DeRegis and a step-back three from Aydin Kocak. 

Both teams continued to go back and forth up to the 12 minute mark but Union would continue to hold a 18-13 advantage after Scott Schmitt grabbed three offensive boards, including one of his own shot, and finished at the rim. Back-to-back threes for Grayson Wallace and Tyson Maxam closed the gap to just one and then take a 21-20 lead off the back of a Ben Phillips layup with 9:39 remaining. That lead would then grow to four as a 5-0 run off the back of a Maxam step-through layup and Matt Toscano trifecta put Clarkson up 26-22. 

Those baskets would precede a 12-0 Clarkson run where the Golden Knights would go up 32-22 with layups from Lorenzo Rappa and Nate Abernethy and a three from DeRegis as the game entered the final five minutes of the first half. Union would then respond with a 16-9 advantage over the remainder of the half, cutting the Clarkson lead to 42-38 headed into the break. 

Union would tie the game up straight out of halftime scoring on the first two possessions before Tedesco would match a Kocak three with one of his own to knot the score at 45. The Garnet Chargers would then string together two more buckets, flipping the scoreboard to take a 49-45 lead less than four minutes into the second half.  

Two free throws from DeRegis would get Clarkson back to within two but an ensuing 7-0 Union scoring run saw the Garnet Chargers quickly get up 58-49 at the 13:33 minute mark. DeRegis would then go on to hit two straight threes and Braeden Burns would hit the back-end of two free throws bringing the score back to 58-56 in favor of the hosts. 

As the contest entered the final 10 minutes, both teams would continue to trade scores as Clarkson still trailed by three following a pair of free throws from DeRegis with 8:08 remaining. Union would immediately drive the lead to 68-60 on the next two trips with a layup and three but Lorenzo Rappa produced a driving lay-in of his own to keep the deficit at six headed into a timeout. 

The Knights would be unable to get any closer over the rest of the game as Union closed out the final five minutes on a 13-3 run for the 85-70 final. 

Clarkson would shoot 42% (25-59) from the field and 40% (6-11) from three while holding a 15-11 advantage in bench points. Union would shoot 53% (33-62) from the field in the win while leading in points in the paint (40-22) and second chance points (15-5). Clarkson was able to limit turnovers with just nine as a team while forcing 10, holding a 11-6 edge in points off turnovers. 

DeRegis led Clarkson with 23 points on 7-13 shooting. Kocak was the only other Golden Knight in double-figures with 12 points and three assists. Burns grabbed five rebounds over 34 minutes while scoring nine. Jack Plesser dumped in 25 for Union to lead all scorers on 9-12 shooting with eight rebounds and three steals. Tedesco posted 17 to go along with eight assists.