SCHENECTADY, NY – The Union men's basketball team clinched a berth in the Liberty League Championship Tournament with a 74-69 home win over Clarkson at the Viniar Athletic Center Saturday. Sophomore forward
Drew Desmarais (St. James, NY/Smithtown) recorded his first career double double in leading Union with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Dutchmen, now 11-13 overall and 8-6 in the Liberty League, play at top seed Hamilton Friday at 8 p.m. The other semifinal matchup will feature #2 St. Lawrence vs. #3 Vassar at 6 p.m. Saturday's title game will be at 3 p.m. Union was 0-2 against the Continentals but lost by just five on the road.
|Senior captain
Joe Mackey (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) was honored before the game, his final regular season contest at home in his career. Mackey had 14 points, while sophomore guard
Steve Madej (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) had 19 points to lead all Dutchmen.
Joey Lokitis (Norton, MA/Phillips Academy) scored 12 and
Kyle Grimm (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona-Sherrill) scored 10 in the balanced attack. Union shot 51% for the game and forced 18 Golden Knight turnovers. Senior guard/forward Erick Vigansky (Kenosha, WI/Tremper) led all players with 20 points, hitting seven of 11 shots for Clarkson. EJ Harrison (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) had 16 points and Jon Youngmann (Corinth, NY/Corinth) grabbed nine rebounds for the guests.
Union led 39-35 at the half, but the Golden Knights went on a 16-6 run in the first 7:06 of the first half for a six point advantage. With the game tied at 58-58 with 6:34 left, Union went on a 6-0 run in the next 2:55, and after the Saints pulled to within three at 70-67 with 50 seconds remaining, Mackey converted two free throws to open up the lead.
