Box Score

INDIANA – Behind 19 points and six assists from Lloyd Harrison, the Clarion University men's basketball team ended IUP's 30-game home win streak with a 73-68 victory Saturday night at Memorial Field House.

 

Harrison scored 14 points in the second half including 11 during a game-changing 21-8 run by Clarion that turned a seven-point deficit, 51-44, with 8:44 to play into a six-point lead, 65-59, with 3:04 left.

 

The Golden Eagles then salted the game away at the free-throw line hitting 8 of 10 charity shots in the final 1:44 including four in a row in the final 13 seconds by Mike Sherry.

 

Clarion (11-4 overall, 2-2 PSAC-West) held IUP (12-4, 3-1) with just one basket on 11 shots in the final 5:51 of the game and no baskets from the 5:51 mark until the nine-second mark.

 

That helped Clarion outscored IUP 19-13 down the stretch with 14 of Clarion's 19 points coming at the free-throw line – the Golden Eagles were 14 of 17 from the line. Eleven of IUP's 13 tallies were also from the charity stripe, as the Crimson Hawks were a perfect 11 of 11 from the foul line in the last 4:49.

 

With both teams hitting foul shots, two Lloyd Harrison baskets less than a minute apart around the 4:30 mark proved to be the difference including a three-pointer at 4:22 that gave Clarion a 61-57 lead.   

 

Jamar Harrison added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Clarion, his fourth double-double of the season and his 30^th straight double-digit contest, Sherry added 11 tallies including a perfect 8 of 8 from the free-throw line and freshman Mike Kromka tied a career high with 10 points and five rebounds while giving Clarion a huge lift off the bench playing a career-high 30 minutes. Kromka scored eight points in the second half and also finished the game by tying a career high with four assists.

 

Ashton Smith paced all scorers with a career-high 32 points for IUP and hit 11 of 22 shots and 10 of 10 free throws. Darryl Webb added a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Crimson Hawks. But while Smith and Webb combined to hit 18 shots, the rest of the IUP offense made five.

 

Paul McQueen chipped in eight points and nine rebounds for Clarion with Bud Teer added seven points and six rebounds.  

 

Clarion, which broke a four-game road losing streak with the win, trailed 31-25 at halftime and was down seven, 37-30, 4:30 into the second half. But a 7-0 run by the Golden Eagles knotted the game at 37 with 13:26 to play. IUP answered with an 8-0 spurt to take a 45-37 lead with 11:35 left and still led by seven, 51-44, after an Ashton Smith jumper at the 8:44 mark.

 

Clarion returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Lock Haven.

 

NOTES – IUP last lost a home game Jan. 24, 2009, when Gannon beat it … The Clarion win also broke a nine-game PSAC-West win streak for IUP, which last lost a PSAC-West game 71-65 at Clarion Feb. 7, 2010 … Clarion broke a three-game losing streak at Memorial Field House, which is in its final year. Clarion is 16-33 all-time at Memorial … Sherry's 11 points give him 973 career points.