Hamilton College flirted with 100 points for the second straight game and the Continentals posted a 96-92 win against Clarkson University in the 2016 Hamilton Men's Basketball Invitational at Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Saturday.

The Continentals (3-1 overall) advanced to the tournament championship game on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. with their third straight win. Hamilton will take on SUNY Oswego -- a 67-63 winner against Colby College in the later game -- for the tournament title. Clarkson and Colby will play in the consolation game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Continentals scored 101 points in a 44-point win at Cazenovia College on Tuesday and they are averaging 87.5 per game this season. Hamilton shot 55.9 percent from the floor in the first half and led 54-41 at the break before holding off a furious charge by the Golden Knights in the final 20 minutes.

Kena Gilmour '20 led the Continentals with 26 points in 22 minutes off the bench. Gilmour, who also came away with three steals, was 8 of 9 from the field and went 9-for-11 at the free throw line.

Peter Hoffmann '19, who led Hamilton in scoring in 2015-16 and missed the previous two games, wasted no time in regaining his shooting touch with 15 points in the first half. Hoffmann finished with a career-high 24 on 9 of 11 shooting from the floor and added five steals. The Continentals were credited with a total of 13 steals which helped lead to 22 Clarkson turnovers. Hamilton committed just nine turnovers.

Michael Grassey '19 chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for the Continentals, and Jack Dwyer '18 added 12 points and a season-best seven assists. Dwyer is tied for fifth in the NESCAC with 18 assists this season.

Drew Zlogar drained eight 3-pointers for the Golden Knights and led all scorers with 30 points. Malaquias Canery contributed 22 points and five assists off the bench. Canery nailed all three of his 3-point field goal attempts and was 7 of 10 from the field. Derek Hart posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Hart scored 13 of those 15 points in the second half when Clarkson shot 58.6 percent from the floor as a team. Mike Hayduk dropped in 12 points. The Golden Knights nearly buried Hamilton under an avalanche of 3-pointers as they ended up 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

Clarkson (2-3) trailed by 21 points early in the second half and still were down by seven at 90-83 with 4:49 left. The Golden Knights, led by five points by Hart and a pair of Zlogar free throws, tied the score at 90-90 with 2:54 remaining.

The teams then amazingly struggled to score as they combined for two turnovers and five missed shots until Hoffmann put the Continentals ahead to stay with a free throw with 57 seconds to go. He missed the second but Hamilton couldn't convert on a shot in the paint, only to watch Clarkson miss a layup that would have put the Golden Knights back in the lead for the first time since it was 3-0.

Dwyer made two free throws with 27 seconds left and, after a missed jumper by Clarkson, Grassey was fouled and hit one free throw for a 94-90 advantage with 16 seconds remaining. Gilmour came up with a steal on the next possession and clinched the win on two free throws with eight seconds to go. A jumper by Canery accounted for the final margin.

The score was tied at 9-9 early in the first half when the Continentals got some separation by going on a 13-2 run. Joe Pucci '18 started the spurt with a jumper, Hoffmann added a steal and fast-break layup and Gilmour made a jumper for a 15-9 lead. Hamilton enjoyed a 26-2 advantage in points off turnovers. After a Hart layup, Hoffmann made a basket, Grassey powered in for a layup and Gilmour converted an old-fashioned 3-point play for a 22-11 cushion midway through the half.

The Golden Knights climbed back to within four points at 36-32 on a Canery trifecta with 5:00 left but a 7-0 run that featured five points from Gilmour pushed Hamilton's lead back to double digits. A Kyle Pitman '17 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining gave the Continentals their largest cushion of the half of 13 points at 54-41.

Hamilton opened the second half on a 10-2 run and took its largest lead of the game at 64-43. Hoffmann and Dwyer made two baskets apiece and two free throws by Grassey gave the Continentals a 21-point advantage with 16:09 to go.

During a 6-minute, 20-second stretch that started with 15:09 left, Clarkson was red-hot from long distance. The Golden Knights made 3-pointers on eight of their next 15 possessions and went from a 66-46 deficit to being down just 79-76 after a Zlogar three with 8:49 remaining.

Hamilton has won 70 of 88 meetings in the all-time series against Clarkson. This marked the first time the former Liberty League rivals played each other since 2011. Continentals' head coach Adam Stockwell was the Golden Knights' coach from 2004 until 2009.