Willie Zachery hit an elbow jumper and a pair of free throws in the closing minutes and with just 10 seconds left made a pass to Kaleb Faison for a 3-pointer that would have won the game for the St. Lawrence University Men's Basketball team but the shot was off the front of the rim and Clarkson held on for a 74-72 victory Tuesday night in a Liberty League matchup at Alumni Gym in Potsdam.

Zachery had nine of his 17 points in the first half and Riley Naclerio had 11 of his 17 in the first half as well to lead the Saints (6-5 overall, 2-1 Liberty League) to a 40-34 advantage over Clarkson (6-8, 3-2) after 20 minutes of action.

In the second half, Clarkson whittled away at the lead and took a 50-48 lead with a 3-pointer near the midpoint of the period. A pair of Kyle Kobis free throws tied the game at 52-52 but the Golden Knights scored the next 10 consecutive points for a 62-52 lead.

The Saints answered with a 7-0 run capped by a pair of Zachery free throws and a Ben Crawford lay up trimming the lead to three points at 62-59 with 4:14 to play.

The teams traded baskets and St. Lawrence cut the lead to a single point four times in the last four minutes but could not regain the advantage.

Naclerio's 3-pointer made it 71-70 with 41 seconds left and the teams traded a pair of free throws each with Zachery nailing two for the Saints with 11 seconds remaining to make it a 73-72 game.

After Clarkson made one of two from the line, Kyle Edwards grabbed the defensive rebound and made a quick outlet pass to Zachery who raced up the court going all the way to the baseline before sending a pass out to Faison who was lined up for a 3-pointer. The last second shot was just off the mark ending the game and snapping the five-game win streak for the Saints.

Naclerio and Zachery led St. Lawrence with 17 points each and Naclerio led the squad with eight rebounds.