Worcester, Mass. – Connecticut College held Clark University to just 25 percent shooting in the second half and the visiting Camels rode another strong performance from freshman Zuri Pavlin (New York, N.Y.) en route to a 75-63 win over the Cougars on Tuesday night in non-league men's basketball action.

The win for Connecticut College improves their record to 2-3, while the Cougars drop their second game of the season and now sit at 5-2.

Pavlin recorded his third double-double in his first five collegiate contests, registering game-highs with 21 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.

Clark actually held an early nine point lead after a 13-3 run gave them a 21-12 edge as the Cougars got three-pointers from Conor Dow (Needham, Mass.), Tyler Huffman (East Hartford, Conn.) and David Mercier (Milford, Mass.) and a pair of inside hoops from Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.).

That lead proved to be short lived for the Scarlet and White after the Camels promptly answered with a 13-4 spurt that knotted the game at 25-25 with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the first half.

After a pair of Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) free throws, Connecticut College ran off eight straight points, highlighted by a Bo McKinley (Westport, N.Y.) three-pointer and an excellent back door feed from Matt Vadas (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.) to John Bullitt (Brookline, Mass.), making the score 33-27.

The Camels would hold Clark without a made basket over the final 4:08 of the first half and when the dust cleared, they were ahead 41-34 at the half.

In the final 20 minutes it seemed as if every time the Cougars made a push to get close, Connecticut College had an answer. A three-point play by Musler at 15:22 cut the lead to 47-44, but McKinley responded with a deep triple.

Dow's steal and fastbreak finish had Clark as close as four at 50-46, but another four minute scoring drought saw the Camels rattle of eight of the game's next ten points, capped by Alex Hall (Durham, N.C.) finding Colin Pascoe (Somers, Conn.) cutting along the baseline for and powerful one-handed dunk, upping the Connecticut College advantage to 56-48.

The Cougars made one final push, getting as close as five on a three-point play by Mercier and a pair of free throws by Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, Fla.), but a 10-1 burst by the Camels that featured four points by Pavlin and a three-point play by Vadas put the game away.

After shooting 50 percent in the first half, Connecticut College shot 45 percent in the second half and finished at 48 percent (24-for-50).

Clark's work on the glass actually kept them in the game as they had a 43-41 edge on the boards – 17 of which we offensive, which led to a 17-7 difference in second chance points.

The Cougars did, however, struggle from the three-point line, going 1-for-20 in the second half and 5-for-33 for the game.

In addition to Pavlin's huge performance, the Camels got 16 points from Vadas, 12 from McKinley and 11 points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals from Hall.

Clark was paced by Musler, who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals, while DaPrato added 13 points and five rebounds. Mercier, meanwhile, just missed out on his first career double-double, totaling eight points and career-best nine rebounds.

Connecticut College will next be in action on Saturday when they host Maine-Presque Isle at 6:00 p.m.

The Cougars have little time to recover as they will host Worcester-area rival Becker College on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.