Box Score CLARION, Pa. – Junior DeMarius Miller scored 22 points for the Clarion University men's basketball team Wednesday night, but Pitt-Johnstown used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to secure a 78-68 win over the Golden Eagles at Clarion's Tippin Gym.
 
Clarion (1-3 overall, 0-3 PSAC West) led by eight, 50-42, following a Jeremy Schmader 3-pointer with 13:28 to play but scored just one basket in the next six minutes, a Miller hoop at the 11:53 mark.
 
That allowed Pitt-Johnstown (5-2, 2-1) to take its first lead, 56-52, since eight minutes into the first half, as six different Mountain Cats found the scoreboard during the run led by four points from Adam Shaheen.
 
Clarion got back within two, 56-54, on a Darius Stevens layup with 7:06 to play but was never able to regain a tie or the lead. Pitt-Johnstown started slowly pulling away around the three-minute mark and got its lead to as many as 12, 78-66, thanks to eight straight free throws by Nate Snodgrass in the final 2:03.
 
Snodgrass led the Mountain Cats with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Matt Palo had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and Ian Vescovi added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
 
Mike Kromka chipped in 11 points and five rebounds for Clarion, which shot 39.7 percent from the field, its second straight game under 40 percent.
 
Clarion used an 11-0 run that began with a thunderous Kromka dunk at the 11:03 mark in the first half to build a 23-14 lead.
 
Pitt-Johnstown came back and tied the game at 33 late in the half on a 3-pointer by Bill Luther before a Miller three with seven seconds left in the half gave the Golden Eagles a 36-33 halftime lead.
 
That lead was extended to eight twice in the second half with the final time being on the Schmader three at the 13:28 mark.
 
Clarion returns to action Sunday Dec. 15 when it hosts Penn State-Beaver at 7 p.m.