JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Trailing by 17 with 12 minutes to play, the Clarion University men's basketball team rallied to within one only to fall 82-77 in the PSAC West opener at Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday night.
 
The home team looked like it was in complete control of the game when it took a 61-44 lead with 11:58 left, but Clarion's full-court defense helped the Golden Eagles climb back into the game in a quick amount of time.
 
When Justin Grant hit the front-end of a two-shot free-throw situation at the 5:31 mark, the Golden Eagles were down by just one, 64-63. But Grant missed the second free throw, and UPJ answered with a quick four points in transition to go back ahead by five, 68-63, with four-and-a-half minutes left.
 
A 3-pointer by freshman Brandon Williams got the Golden Eagles  back to within two, 68-66, with 3:48 to play, but A.J. Leahey answered with a three for the Mountain Cats 11 seconds later to get the lead back to five, 71-66. Clarion never got closer than five after that point despite being within seven three separate times in the final 1:09. UPJ closed out the game by hitting five of its final six free throws.
 
Kyheim Hall led four Clarion players in double digits with 20 points and completed his first double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. He also had three steals.
 
Freshman Cameron Grumley added 17 points, three rebounds and two steals, while fellow freshman Tony Gates had 13 points and six rebounds and yet another freshman, Brandon Williams, added 13 points, two assists, a steal and a block. BJ Andrews chipped in with seven points, while Darius Stevens had four points, six rebounds, three steals, four blocks and three assists.
 
Matt Palo led UPJ with 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Leahey chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Ajan Smith had 18 points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench. Ian Vescovi also had 12 points and eight rebounds despite being limited to 26 minutes with foul trouble.
 
UPJ led 45-34 at halftime, but it could have been worse if Gates hadn't scored the final four points of the half in the half's final 19 seconds to keep Clarion within striking range.
 
The Golden Eagles were then within eight, 49-41, with 14:08 to play before a quick 9-0 run got the Mountain Cat lead up to a seemingly comfortable 17 points.
 
Clarion, though, continued to pressure UPJ and got back in the game with the 19-3 run that saw Hall, Gates and Grumley each score six points apiece during the spurt.
 
The Golden Eagles return to action at 4 p.m. Sunday when they open home play with Carlow.