Box Score Watch Jones beat Slippery Rock

CLARION, Pa. – Marques Jones couldn't believe how open he was, but there was the Clarion junior wide open at the top of the right wing with 1.4 seconds left in overtime, and he didn't miss burying the game-winning 3-pointer to give Clarion an 87-86 upset win over first-place Slippery Rock in PSAC West men's basketball action at Tippin Gym Wednesday night.
 
"I couldn't believe how open I was," Jones, who had just missed a free throw that Slippery Rock tipped out of bounds giving Clarion a second chance, said. "I caught the ball and turned around expecting someone to be there and nobody was there. So I'm like, I should probably go and shoot this now."
 
Jones credited his teammates on the inbounds play, which started from the left baseline, for getting him so open. Anthony Baker was the player who found the wide open Jones.  
 
"We ran that play to perfection," Jones said. "BJ (Andrews) set a huge screen, Mike (Kromka) popped out hard, Anthony (Baker) popped out hard as well and found me open, and I knocked it down. It felt good coming out of my hands. A lot of my shots felt good tonight."
 
Slippery Rock (15-6 overall, 6-3 PSAC West), which has lost two straight games in the final seconds, led by three, 86-83, following a pair of Maurice Lewis-Briggs free throws with just over nine seconds to play and elected to foul Jones with just over seven seconds left instead of letting Clarion (4-13, 2-7) take a potential game-tying three.
 
"I was really surprised they fouled me," Jones said. "I thought they were going to let us play it out and let us decide it on offense. They could have given us two point there, but I mean, they made the call and it went in our favor."
 
The strategy back fired on The Rock, who entered the game in a four-way tie for first place in the PSAC West with IUP, Gannon and Mercyhurst, when Jones hit the free throws but missed the second one – not on purpose – with the rebound going off a couple of Slippery Rock players out of bounds to the Golden Eagles.
 
The game almost didn't go to overtime, as Clarion had a chance to win the contest when Mike Kromka stepped to the free throw line with 2.7 seconds left in regulation and the Golden Eagles down one, 71-70 after Slippery Rock's Antonio Butler missed a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to play and Kromka drove hard to the basket before being fouled by Lewis-Briggs.
 
Kromka made the first free throw, but after Slippery Rock called a timeout he missed the second one, his only miss in 17 tries, leaving the game tied at 71 heading to overtime.
 
But overtime was well received by the Golden Eagles who trailed by seven, 68-60, with 5:55 to play before ending regulation on a 11-3 run that saw Aaron Johnson score the first four points of the spurt and also included Kromka going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line hitting his first seven charity shots starting with just over four minutes to play. Kromka also had an assist on a 3-pointer by Johnson.
 
"I had a feeling with probably about four minutes to go in regulation that we would win this game," Jones said. "When Mike made the big play to put us into overtime, it had the feeling like we finally earned it and we were going to get the win."
 
In overtime, it was Kromka  against who gave Clarion a quick 73-71 lead, its first lead since two minutes into the game, but Slippery Rock answered back and went up three, 77-74, with just over three minutes to play.
 
Baker tied the game with a 3-ball at the 2:53 mark, but Slippery Rock once again went ahead on a Lewis-Briggs old-school three with 2:07 to play. The game then went between a 3-point and a 1-point lead for The Rock until Jones hit the game-winning shot.
 
Kromka had a monster game with a career-high 26 points to go with 15 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. He was 16 of 17 from the free-throw line with the only miss being the one late in regulation.
 
Jones, meanwhile, recorded his second straight 20-point effort with 23 points hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. Baker added a Clarion career-high of 15 points going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
 
"I feel like my shot has really come around," Jones said. "And my teammates are really finding me at my spots. We're playing better as a team, so it's a lot easier to get the shot that you want when as a team you're playing well."
 
Lewis-Briggs led all scorers with 27 points while also gathering eight rebounds. Tabari Perry had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelvin Dixon had 12 points and 10 boards.
 
A couple of local kids also played key roles for each team with Jeremy Schmader from nearby Leeper scoring one points, gathering a rebound and handing out an assist and eight minutes for Clarion and Max Rynd from Franklin scoring seven points to go with two rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes for Slippery Rock.
 
Clarion returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at IUP, the start of a three-game road trip for the Golden Eagles.
 
NOTES – Slippery Rock led by as many as 12 in the first half and by as many as 11 in the second half … It was the Golden Eagles first win over Slippery Rock since an 88-75 win Feb. 1, 2012 … Clarion, which came into the game ranked sixth in the PSAC in free-throw shooting at 71.4 percent hit 26 of 32 free throws (81.3 percent) while Slippery Rock was 22 of 32 (68.8 percent) … Clarion shot 41.7 percent for the game compared to Slippery Rock's 44.6 percent but the Golden Eagles hit a season-high 11 3-pointers compared to Slippery Rock's six … Slippery Rock led by eight, 39-31, at halftime … Jones' 3-pointer marked the first time Clarion won a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime since Nov. 20, 2011, when Calvin Edwards hit three free throws with 2.2 seconds left to beat East Stroudsburg, 65-63, on the road … It was the second overtime game of the year for the Golden Eagles. They lost 82-80 to Kutztown at Tippin Gym Dec. 17 … It was Clarion's first overtime win since a 78-71 win over Cheyney also at Tippin Gym Dec. 10, 2011 … It was the first time Clarion and Slippery Rock played an overtime game since a 103-98 Clarion win at Slippery Rock Jan. 20, 2010, and the 16 Golden Eagle points in overtime are tied for the most points in an overtime for Clarion since the 1999-2000 season with the Eagles also scoring 16 in that overtime winner at Slippery Rock in 2010 … Prior to the game Clarion honored head coach Ron Righter with a trophy, courtesy of All American Awards & Engraving in Shippenville, for his 400^th win which came Jan. 18 over Seton Hill. Righter is the winningest coach in school history with 401 wins in 26 years including 15 15-win season with 3 20-win campaigns, three PSAC West titles and the school's lone men's basketball PSAC title in 2001.