SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Sophomore Christian Dufort poured in a career-high 27 points and the Union College men's basketball team shot 52.2 percent from long range as the Garnet Chargers posted a huge 83-75 victory over Clarkson University in a Liberty League matchup on Friday evening at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
The win was critical for Union (12-9, 7-8 Liberty League) as the regular-season winds down, moving the Garnet Chargers into a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings alongside Bard College, Rochester Institute of Technology and Vassar College with three games remaining.
 
Dufort came up huge for Union on the evening, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the field (including 6-of-7 from long range) and sinking all five free-throw attempts while also grabbing a team- and season-best 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Senior Connor Cepiel just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine caroms, while first-year Tanner Tedesco filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, seven boards and six assists. Sophomore Aren Cummings also chipped in 10 points and five boards for the home team.
 
The duo of Ryan Miles-Ferguson and Finn Cork nearly carried Clarkson (12-10, 6-9 Liberty League) to a win, with Miles-Ferguson netting a game-high 28 points and Cork posting a double-double of 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
Led by Dufort's red-hot shooting, Union hit 12-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc and shot much better from long range than from inside the arc (17 of 41), finishing the game at 45.3 percent (29 of 64) overall. Clarkson shot 40.0 percent (32 of 80) from the field but hit on just 8-of-35 tries from distance.
 
Clarkson used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 14-10 just over five minutes into the game, but a trio of triples from Cepiel and Dufort (two) quickly gave the lead back to Union. Miles-Ferguson got the game back to even with a three soon after, but the home team responded with a 12-3 run – including eight points from Dufort – to take a 33-24 lead with 6:37 on the clock. Union held the lead for the remainder of the half, finishing with six straight points to take a 43-36 advantage into the break.
 
After nine straight points brought the Golden Knights back within a basket with 13:15 remaining, a three from Tedesco and a traditional three-point play by Dufort made it a 58-49 lead with 11:50 on the clock. Union managed to hold off Clarkson for the next six minutes; however, Miles-Ferguson hit a three with 5:51 remaining to get the Golden Knights back within a point at 66-65.
 
But as he did all night, Dufort again had an answer with a triple to quickly increase the lead back to four. Garside followed on the next possession with another triple to bump the lead to seven with 4:52 on the clock. Clarkson got within five with 1:34 remaining but Cummings electrified the crowd with a nice baseline move and dunk that allowed Union to clinch the game at the free-throw line in the final minute.
 
Union will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow, when the team celebrates its Senior Class prior to a 4 p.m. tipoff against St. Lawrence University.