Box Score CLARION, Pa. – Marques Jones exploded for a career-high 26 points while falling one three-pointer short of the school record to help Clarion upset visiting Mercyhurst 78-51 Wednesday night at Tippin Gym.
 
Jones, a sophomore transfer from New Jersey Institute of Technology, hit eight threes while shooting 8 of 10 from beyond the arc and nailing a pair of free throws. The eight triples ties for the fourth most in school history behind nine hit by Kwame Morton, David Cruise and Gregg Frist. It is the 11^th time a Golden Eagle has hit eight threes in a game and the first since Mike Sherry nailed eight vs. Shippensburg Jan. 26, 2008. Jones' previous career best in points was 20 at Mercyhurst Jan. 16 when he hit six threes and scored 18 straight points at one time.
 
Freshman Aaron Johnson added 16 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four assists while also coming away with a steal and a block. Junior transfer Corey Bellovich also set a Clarion career-high with 15 points giving him 29 tallies in his last two games. He added four rebounds and two helpers as well as a block. Mike Kromka chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds.
 
Luis Leao led Mercyhurst (14-10 overall, 10-8 PSAC West) with 14 points but didn't score after halftime. He was the lone Lakers player in double digits and added seven rebounds. Andy Hoying chipped in seven points and seven boards.  
 
Clarion (6-16, 4-14) led wire-to-wire scoring the game's first five points and holding a 19-8 lead just over eight minutes into the first half.
 
Mercyhurst never closed closer than five points, which it did with 9:07 left in the opening half, 21-16. Clarion answered with a 5-0 spurt that was capped by a Jones three to get the lead back to 10, and a Bellovich layup at the horn gave the Golden Eagles a 39-28 halftime lead.
 
Clarion then started the second half on a 13-0 run with Jones nailing a pair of threes for six points during the run, which lifted the Golden Eagle lead to 24, 52-28, with 16:08 left in the game.
 
The Lakers threatened to rally going on an 8-0 run capped by a Hoying layup at the 13:31 mark to get back within 16, 54-38. But Clarion had the answer in the form of a 17-4 run that saw Jones lead the way with six more tallies. That got the lead to 29, 71-42, with 6:08 to play, tying for the biggest lead of the game for the Golden Eagles, who also led 78-49 following a Ralph Naples Jr. three with 53 seconds left, the freshman's first career field goal.
 
The Golden Eagles return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Gannon.
 
NOTES – Johnson was 12 of 14 from the free-throw line, the most free throws on the season by a Golden Eagle and the most at home by a Clarion player since Lloyd Harrison hit 14 Feb. 5, 2011, vs. Slippery Rock … The 51 points are the second fewest allowed by Clarion this season, and the 78 points scored are the third most by Clarion this year … The Golden Eagles shot 23 of 50 from the field (46 percent) including a season-best 13 of 22 from three-point range (59.1 percent). It is the highest three-point percentage for Clarion since the Golden Eagles hit a school-record 70.6 percent from beyond the arc (12 of 17) Jan. 4, 2011, vs. Millersville. The 13 made threes are the most by Clarion since it hit 15 Dec. 9, 2005, vs. Concord (at West Virginia Tech). They are the most threes in a home game by the Golden Eagles since Dec. 21, 2002, vs. East Stroudsburg when they hit 13 as well ... Jones' 26 points tied for the most in a game this season by a Clarion player. Calvin Edwards also scored 26 Jan. 4 vs. West Chester.