Feb. 7, 2010
Box Score
CLARION - The Clarion University men's basketball team had to wait an extra day for its first-place PSAC-West showdown with No. 6 IUP, but the wait was well worth it as the Golden Eagles claimed a 71-62 win over the highly touted Crimson Hawks before 1,100 on a White Out Day at Clarion's Tippin Gym.
Clarion (15-6 overall, 7-1 PSAC-West), winners of seven straight, outscored IUP (18-2, 7-1) 17-8 in the final 6:03 of the game to break a 54-all tie and get the nine-point win over a Crimson Hawks squad that was also ranked first in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region.
"IUP is a great basketball team," Clarion head coach Ron Righter said. "They have quality players and are well coached. We are really happy to get a big win over such a fine team.
"We had had great intensity for 40 minutes today. We had that little extra to get to a lot of loose balls, especially in crunch time."
Free-throw shooting played a key role in Clarion's late run, as the Golden Eagles hit 8 of 10 from the line in the final 1:15 including a 4-for-4 performance by junior point guard Lloyd Harrison, who finished the day with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
"In the final minutes, I thought Lloyd was the difference," Righter said. "We wanted the ball in his hands, and he really made some great decisions. He's a special point guard."
The Golden Eagles really used a team effort to break the 54-all stalemate with Paul McQueen scoring five of the final 17 points, Lloyd Harrison four, Jamar Harrison four and Shameel Carty four.
"I think the extra days rest was a real benefit to us today after going overtime at Lock Haven Wednesday," Righter, whose teams was originally slated to play IUP Saturday night only to have the game postponed a day because of the winter weather, said. "We seemed to have a little more jump in our legs."
IUP started out the game on fire shooting 58.6 percent (17 of 29) from the floor in the first half, but could never get a lead of more than seven points in the half and led by just two, 38-36, at the break. Clarion used a key 7-2 mini-run over the final 2:05 of the half to keep the game close.
The Golden Eagles then turned up the defensive intensity in the second half limiting IUP, a team that averages 79.3 ppg, to 24 points. The Crimson Hawks shot just 29 percent (9 of 31) in the second half.
"IUP had a good shooting first half, and we were only down two," Righter said. "We emphasized at halftime about keeping our defensive pressure up in the second half and those shots might not fall, and they didn't. Our defense was great in the second half."
Jamar Harrison led Clarion with 19 points, while Carty added 17 points off the bench. McQueen chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds despite foul trouble most of the game.
Ashton Smith paced IUP with 18 points and four rebounds, while Thomas Young had 17 points. Akida McClain had a game-high 14 rebounds for the Crimson Hawks to go with nine points. Clarion held IUP's Darryl Webb, who has won four of the past five PSAC-West Player of the Week awards - he shared the last two with Clarion's Lloyd Harrison and Carty - to eight points and nine rebounds.
Clarion returns to action Wednesday when its hosts California at 8 p.m., while IUP hosts Lock Haven at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
NOTES - The teams split their season series. IUP beat Clarion 76-60 at IUP Jan. 13 in a game that Carty didn't play ... Both teams have six PSAC-West contests left with Clarion playing four of them away from Tippin Gym ... Clarion is 7-1 in the PSAC-West for the first time since starting 7-1 in 2003 ... The Golden Eagles seven-game PSAC-West win streak is their longest since winning nine straight in 2000 on their way to a PSAC-West title ... Lloyd Harrison has now scored in double digits in 14 straight games, the longest stretch of double-digit games by a Clarion player since Ryan Wells did it in 23 straight in 2005 ... Lloyd Harrison has now made 100 free throws (102), the second most by a Golden Eagle point guard since 1981. Rollie Smith hit 113 in 2003 ... Clarion is now 10-1 at home this year, its first 10-win home campaign since going 13-1 in 2005. The Golden Eagles have had a winning record at home for 40 straight years.
