Basketball (Men's) | 12/19/2014 2:50:00 PM
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – After a three-game home stand that saw it go 2-1, the Clarion University men's basketball team embarks for the first of what will be three straight games away from Tippin Gym when it travels to West Chester for a 3 p.m. game Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (4-4 overall, 2-3 PSAC West), under first-year head coach
Marcess Williams, have won three of five and need just one more win to match last year's win total.
A lot of the early success can be contributed to Clarion's full-court defensive style that has helped the Golden Eagles lead the PSAC in steals per game with 13.75. Clarion's opponents are turning the ball over at a rate of 22.1 giveaways per game, and six of the eight opponents have turned it over at least 22 times.
It's been a team effort on the defensive side of the ball with six different Golden Eagles recording at least 10 steals on the season led by
Kyheim Hall's 26. Hall, who has 14 steals in his last two games, leads the PSAC in takeaways with 3.3, which is good enough to place fourth in the country in steals per game.
Offensively, Clarion is balanced as well with four players averaging in double digits led by
Darius Stevens' 12.9 points per game. Hall is right behind Stevens at 12.5 ppg, while
BJ Andrews chips in 11.1 and
Brandon Williams 11.0. Hall is also Clarion's leading rebounder with 7.9 caroms per contest. Stevens is next at 7.1 followed by
Aaron Johnson, who averaged 7.7 ppg, with 5.2 rpg.
The Golden Eagles, who split a pair of PSAC Crossover home games with Bloomsburg (W – 86-76) and defending PSAC Champion East Stroudsburg (L – 85-56) in the middle of the week, will take on a West Chester club that has dropped six straight including a 55-54 decision at Gannon Wednesday and a 72-59 loss to Mercyhurst Tuesday, both on the road. The Golden Rams are 3-7 on the year including 2-4 in the PSAC East but are 2-2 on their home court.
West Chester is paced by Cory's Blake's 13.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Avery Brown adds 10.5 points per contest, Mike Wilson 9.0, Eric Frans 8.7, Matt Wiseley 7.5 and Parris Grant 7.3.
Following Saturday's game, Clarion is off until Jan. 3 when it will travel to Cheyney. The Golden Eagles are then at Millersville Jan. 4 before returning home to face Shippensburg Jan. 7.
