Feb. 16, 2008
Final Stats
SHIPPENSBURG - The Clarion University men's basketball team shot lights out Saturday afternoon on its way to an 84-62 win at Shippensburg.
It was Clarion's first win at Shippensburg since 2004 and only the Golden Eagles second win at Ship since the start of the 2002 season.
The Golden Eagles (13-10 overall, 5-4 PSAC-West) hit on 57.6 percent of their shots (34 of 59) including 10 of 15 (66.7 percent) three-pointers. Clarion also shot 65.4 percent (17 of 26) in the second half while outscoring the Raiders (6-18, 0-9) 41-26 after halftime.
Demetrius Graham led Clarion with 19 points, eight assists and three steals while shooting 8 of 10 from the field. Lonnell Jones added 16 points, four assists and three steals, Ricky Henderson had 14 points and nine rebounds and Mike Sherry chipped in 10 points and four assists. David Blanks also added eight points off the bench for Clarion, which has won two straight and five of seven overall.
Derrick Graff led Shippensburg with 18 points and six boards, Alex Jones had 13 points, Ryan Kraft 11 and Justin Minter 10.
Clarion used a 13-3 run at the end of the first half to erase a three-point deficit and take a 43-36 lead at halftime. Three three-pointers keyed the run including ones by Sherry, Shameel Carty and Blanks with Blanks' coming with just six seconds left in the half.
The Golden Eagles then used a 12-7 run at the start of the second to get the lead into double digits and then slowly pulled way leading by as many as 25 late in the second half.
Clarion returns to action Wednesday at Lock Haven at 8 p.m.
NOTES - The Golden Eagles now leads Slippery Rock by 1 ½ games for the fourth and final PSAC playoff berth awarded the PSAC-West. Clarion is also a game back in the loss column behind IUP for third place pending the outcome of the Crimson Hawks game with Edinboro Saturday night. Clarion has three PSAC-West games left while IUP and Slippery Rock each have four ... Graham's 19 points are a career-high in his two seasons at Clarion ... Clarion swept the season series from Shippensburg for the first time since 2004 and for just the sixth time in head coach Ron Righter's 20 years at Clarion.
