Box Score


EAST STROUDSBURG – Calvin Edwards hit three free throws with 2.2 seconds left to give Clarion head coach Ron Righter his 400^th career victory with a 65-63 win at East Stroudsburg Sunday.
 
Righter is 400-275 in his 26^th season as a head coach including 376-251 in 24 years at Clarion.
 
“I didn't even know until I got on the bus (after the game),” Righter said. “It was such an emotionally draining game, I had forgotten all about it. But when I got on the bus, both the women's team and our team gave me congratulations. That meant a lot. It was nice to get it in a game like this against a great team like East Stroudsburg. With the way it ended, I'll probably never forget this one.”
 
No. 400 was anything but easy.
 
Clarion (2-3 overall, 1-1 PSAC West) trailed 63-61 with 1:39 to play after a layup by East Stroudsburg's Terrance King.
 
Paul McQueen made it a one-point game, 63-62, when he hit the backend of a two-shot foul with 36 seconds left, and then East Stroudsburg's Russell Graham III missed the frontend of a one-and-one with 34 seconds to play.
 
Things didn't look good for the Golden Eagles when the ball was knocked loose with less than five seconds to play, but Edwards somehow got to the loose ball, got a shot off and was fouled.
 
“I don't know how het got that ball or how he got off a shot,” Righter said. “It was unbelievable. If he doesn't get that ball, the game is over.”  
 
Edwards calmly sunk the first two free throws and then went over to the bench and asked Righter if he wanted him to miss the third on purpose.
“I told him I wanted him to hit it,” Righter said. “If he missed it, something crazy would have happened. I knew when he got fouled that he was going to make all three of them. He was having such a rough game, and the fans were all over him. But I knew he was going to hit them.”
 
The game was tight throughout with Clarion never leading by more than seven, and that was in the first half, and East Stroudsburg never up by more than five. The lead changed hands eight times, all in the second half, and it was tied four times.
 
In the final 9:38 alone there were seven lead changes and two ties.
 
Clarion led 46-40 with 14:11 to play after a Leonard Patters layup, but East Stroudsburg answered with its best run of the game, 13-2, to take a 53-48 lead on a Matt Tobin 3-pointer with 10:27 left.
 
At that point, things got ultra close with Clarion starting the wild finish by retaking the lead less than a minute later on an Edwards' layup.
 
After that, the lead never got beyond one possession either way the remainder of the contest.
 
Bud Teer led Clarion with a monster 15-point, 17-rebound double-double off the bench, while Paul McQueen added 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Edwards had 10 points and four boards, and David Colbert gave the Golden Eagles a lift off the bench with seven points and three rebounds.
 
Duane Johnson led East Stroudsburg with 13 points, Tobin had 12 points and four helpers off the bench and Graham III 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Clarion returns to action at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 when it hosts Susquehanna.
 
NOTES – Clarion shot 49 percent (24 of 49) for the game including 57.7 percent (15 of 26) in the first half while taking a 35-32 halftime lead … East Stroudsburg shot 40 percent (22 of 55) for the contest but hit nine 3-pointers (on 28 attempts) to stay in the game … It marked the third double-digit rebounding game of the season for Teer, who has 15 or more rebounds four times in two seasons at Clarion. The 17 rebounds is tied for the second most by Teer, who also had 17 vs. Edinboro Jan. 15. He had a career-high 23 rebounds Feb. 7 vs. the University of the District of Columbia … McQueen has scored 65 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in his last three games.