Box Score CLARION, Pa. – Mike Kromka had 17 points and 15 rebounds but it wasn't enough, as the Clarion men's basketball team dropped a 72-60 decision to visiting Cheyney Saturday night at Tippin Gym.
 
Clarion trailed 35-29 at halftime but found itself down 12, 49-37, less than five minutes into the second half. Cheyney was able to build the lead to as many as 16 on three separate occasions, the latest at 66-50 with 5:45 to play, before Clarion got back within 11, 66-55, with a 5-0 spurt. But that was as close as the Golden Eagles got.
 
Jason Sabb led all scorers with 22 points for Cheyney while adding five rebounds, three assists and a block. Brandon Norfleet added 17 points and four steals, while Jayvon Beaty had 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks.
 
Calvin Edwards added 11 points for Clarion, while Aaron Johnson had eight points, five rebounds and two blocks.
 
Clarion lost despite shooting 15 more free throws (33 to 18) than Cheyney, which committed 28 fouls and had three players foul out and two more finish with four fouls. But Clarion was just 69.7 percent (23 of 33) from the line and 32.1 percent (17 of 53) from the floor in the game.
 
The Golden Eagles led 10-8 early before Cheyney used a 14-2 first-half run to build the lead to 31-19 with just over six minutes left in the half.
 
Clarion fought back going on a 10-2 run to close within four, 33-29, on an Evan Battle layup with 51 seconds left in the half before Cheyney scored the half's final basket to go ahead six. Kromka had a solid first half with nine points and eight rebounds and finished the game adding three assists.
 
The Golden Eagles are back in action at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when they host Central Penn.