SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team rode some red-hot shooting and had four players score at least 15 points to defeat Clarkson University by an 89-75 score in Liberty League action on Friday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Senior Brian Noone led all scorers with 20 points, hitting 9-of-12 shots from the field while adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Mike Manley and juniors Edward Baptiste and Luke McGarrity all chipped in 15 points as well for Union (6-18, 5-12 Liberty League), which saw nine players record at least one field goal.
 
The home team shot better than 50 percent in both halves to secure the win, hitting 16-of-31 shots in the opening stanza and connecting on 16-of-29 attempts in the second half to finish the game at 53.3 percent. The team was effective from all over the floor, including an 11-of-20 effort from downtown and a 14-of-18 effort from the charity stripe.
 
Blake Gearhart led Clarkson (9-15, 6-11 Liberty League) with 18 points, followed by Ryan Miles-Ferguson with 17 and Matteo Sinon with 14.
 
Union jumped out to a 7-3 lead to start the game, thanks to baskets from Senior Weekend starters Eamon Fitzpatrick and Connor Cepiel, and then came back with an 11-1 run to take an 18-7 lead after a Noone layup with 5:47 gone by in the contest. The home team continued to pour it on with an 18-4 run that took up nearly 7:30 of the opening half, with a Baptiste layup giving Union its largest lead of the game at 42-17 with 3:31 left. However, that was the team's last bucket of the first half, as Clarkson came back with 14 unanswered points to get within 11 (42-31) at the break.
 
The intermission seemed to settle the game down for the garnet and white, as Union seemingly had an answer every time Clarkson threatened to get within single digits in the second half. The team received timely threes from Manley, Noone, Lovisolo and McGarrity to halt any Clarkson momentum, as the home team hit 7-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half. The lead grew back to 17 after a pair of Baptiste buckets put Union up 75-58 with 9:46 on the clock, and the home team was never threatened the rest of the way.
 
Union shot well in part thanks to its efforts in transition, which led to many easy looks at the basket and a decisive 27-2 edge in scoring when pushing the pace. The Union bench also outscored its Clarkson counterparts by a 38-16 margin on the night.
 
Union will wrap up the 2022-23 schedule tomorrow on Senior Day, when the team hosts St. Lawrence University for a 4 p.m. tipoff at Viniar Athletic Center.