Box Score CLARION, Pa. – DeMarius Miller scored the fifth-most known points in school history, 42, to lead the Clarion University men's basketball team to a 95-88 win over visiting Penn State-Beaver Sunday night at Clarion's Tippin Gym.
 
Miller shot 13 of 20 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while also hitting 13 of 14 free throws to become the first Golden Eagles to score 40 in a game since Kwame Morton netted 41 in a 118-111 double-overtime loss to California (Pa.) Feb. 2, 1994, also at Tippin Gym. He joins Morton (56 and 42 both in 1993-94), Terry Thompson (51 in 1964-65), Ron Botz (46 in 1958-59) and Jim Alcorn (44 in 1968) as the only known players in school history to net at least 42 points in a game. It also marks just the 11^th known time a Clarion men's player has scored at least 40 points in a contest.
 
"I owe it all to my teammates," said Miller, who noted his previous career high was 41 in junior college. "They instilled a leadership role in me tonight when they saw that I was scoring, but without them we don't win this game."
 
Clarion (2-3) needed everything it got from Miller, who also added eight rebounds, two assists and a steal, to fend off a Penn State-Beaver squad that was looking for an upset.
 
The Nittany Lions (8-2) led by as many as 12, 28-16, midway through the first half before a half-ending 25-12 run gave Clarion the lead for good, 41-40, at halftime. Miller had 12 points during the spurt to spark the comeback, while Anthony Baker added seven of his 13 off the bench during the same time period.
 
 The Golden Eagles then started the second half on an 8-2 run, four different players each had two points, to take a 49-42 lead three minutes into the half.
 
After PSU-Beaver closed back within five, 62-57, on a Nick Miller layup with 12:41 to play, two of his team-high 29 points, Clarion expanded its lead to a game-high 13, 72-59, with a 10-2 run that included six points and an assist from Miller.
 
The Golden Eagles still led by 13, 75-62, following another Miller 3-pointer with 8:19 to play, but the Nittany Lions refused to go away answering with a 7-1 run that got them to within seven, 76-69, on a Markes Royster layup with 6:13 left.
 
Clarion once again answered going back up 13, 86-73, with a 10-4 spurt that included three points from Darius Stevens.
 
But PSU-Beaver answered again with a 7-0 run that got them back within six, 86-80, with 2:33 to play.
 
The Golden Eagles, though, stepped up at the free-throw line hitting 7 of 10 charity shots down the stretch to seal the win.
 
"Give them a lot of credit, they are a good team," Miller said. "But we came together as a team tonight and got a scrappy win."
 
Free-throw shooting was a key component to Clarion's win with the Golden Eagles hitting 29 of 35 free-throws compared to 15 of 31 by the Nittany Lions.
 
Stevens added 19 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists for Clarion, while Mike Kromka added eight points and 17 rebounds.
 
Rob Argus chipped in 28 points for PSU-Beaver with Chris Weathers adding 13 and Tashaun Goode 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Clarion returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Kutztown and then hosts Mansfield at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
 
NOTES – With the win, Clarion head coach Ron Righter now has 399 wins at Clarion … Alvin Gibson is the only other known player to score 40 in a game for the Golden Eagles, as Morton did it six times in his career.