Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – A late-game 14-2 run helped the visiting Clarion University men's basketball team pull away from Holy Family to get a season-opening 86-70 win Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

 

Clarion (1-0) led by five, 60-55, with just over six minutes to play when it went on the run that was fueled by the play of Lloyd Harrison, Mike Sherry and Paul McQueen.

 

McQueen, who scored four points during the run and a team-high 15 tallies, got the run started with a jumper at the 6:12 mark, and Sherry followed with a pair of free throws and a three-point bomb to get the lead to 12, 67-55, with 4:30 to play. Lloyd Harrison then finished off the run by going 5-for-6 from the line to extend Clarion's lead to 74-57 with 2:27 to play.

 

From there, Clarion salted the game away by going 6-for-6 from the line helping it close the contest by hitting 15 of 16 free throws in the final 6:46.

 

Lloyd Harrison picked off where he left off last year with a solid all-around game that included 13 points, six assists, six rebounds and a steal. Harrison hit only 2 of 8 shots from the field but was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.

 

Freshman Mike Kromka, playing in his first collegiate game, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, while also picking up an assist and a steal. He shot 4 of 6 from the field. Five of Kromka's points and his assist came during a 23-6 first-half run by the Golden Eagles that erased an early 13-3 deficit and helped Clarion take a 34-27 halftime lead.

 

Also reaching double digits for Clarion were Jamar Harrison with 14 points to go with seven boards, Sherry with 11 points to go with three assists, three rebounds and three three-pointers and Denzil Dennison with 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting.

 

Denison helped lift Clarion during a key second-half run scoring eight of the Golden Eagles 11 points during an 11-4 spurt that took a three-point lead, 43-40, and turned it into a 10-point lead, 54-44, midway through the half.

 

The Golden Eagles had actually started the half on a 7-0 run thanks in part to a Sherry three-pointer to take a 41-27 lead only to watch Holy Family (1-3), playing its home opener, rally to within three with a 13-2 run of its own.

 

Tim Smith had a game-high 30 points to go with six assists and five rebounds for Holy Family but was the only Tiger player in double figures.

 

Clarion returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Central Penn in its home opener.

 

NOTES – The Golden Eagles outrebounded Holy Family 49-26 including 16-6 on the offensive glass … Clarion shot 49.2 percent (29 of 59) from the floor including 57.1 percent (16 of 28) in the second half … Holy Family shot 36.2 percent (21 of 58) fro the game including 25.8 percent (8 of 31) in the first half. Free-throw shooting kept the Tigers in the game, as they were 21 of 25 (84 percent) compared to 23 of 33 (69.7 percent) for the Golden Eagles … Clarion has won back-to-back season openers. It's the first time since they won four in a row from 2000-2003 the Golden Eagles have won season openers in back-to-back season … It's Clarion first road win in a season opener since 2007 when it beat Briarcliffe (NY) 78-47 and its first win over an NCAA Division II school in an opener since beating Saginaw Valley 86-79 in 2000 … The game marked just the third time since Clarion went full-time NCAA Division II in 1981 the Golden Eagles had faced another NCAA Division II team at that team's home venue in a season opener and the first time Clarion has won the game.