CLARION, Pa. – Led by 18 points apiece from Darius Stevens and Brandon Williams, first-year Clarion University men's basketball coach Marcess Williams picked up his first conference win with an 80-73 victory over visiting California (Pa.) Saturday night at Tippin Gym.
 
"That's huge," Marcess Williams said of the PSAC West victory. "That's huge for the program. It's huge for the guys, it's huge for the staff. When you go somewhere new, when you start a new program, when you start trying to build on a new program, you look for program victories. It's a home game, and I keep telling the guys you have to take care of the house. We've done that this year so far with the two scrimmages, the (win) over Carlow and this game, we've taken care of the home court. Hopefully, we get better. It doesn't get any easier. We have Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg and West Chester coming up. They just keep on coming, it's the PSAC."  
 
The Golden Eagles (3-3 overall, 1-2 PSAC West) broke a 52-all tie at the 10-minute mark with an 18-6 run that saw Williams score seven points, BJ Andrews, who had 12 for the game including going 10 of 12 from the free-throw line, add five and Stevens chip in four including a thundering dunk to take a 70-58 lead on an Andrews charity shot with 2:37 to play.
 
Cal (6-3, 2-2), behind a Jake Jacubec 3-pointer and a huge dunk by Richard Smith, cut the Clarion lead to five, 75-70, on a Smith jumper with 20 seconds to play. But the Golden Eagles hit 4 of 5 free throws, with Andrews making 4 of 4, in the final 18 seconds to seal the victory.
 
"I thought we were strong for 40 minutes," Marcess Williams said. "I thought we got better as the game went on, and that's a testament to our conditioning."
 
Brandon Williams, just a freshman who added five rebounds and two steals to go with his career-high in points, hit a clutch 3-point during the key run nailing a triple at the 4:54 mark after Cal had gotten back within four, 60-56, on two Smith free throws.
 
"That three was huge," Marcess Williams said. "He was solid today. He made some plays in transition, and he got to the foul line (7 of 8 from the line). When he's aggressive, he really makes the game easy for us because he's one who can get to the hoop and finish and create for some others."   
 
Smith had a monster game for the Vulcans with 25 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots, while Khalil Jabbie added 18 points and seven assists. But Jabbie also turned the ball over nine times, as Clarion once again forced 25 turnovers, the fourth time in six games a Golden Eagle opponent has had at least 25 turnovers. Eighteen of those came on Clarion steals with Stevens recording five takeaways and adding eight rebounds while shooting 8 of 15 from the floor and 2 of 2 from the line.
 
"D (Stevens) was solid," Marcess Williams said. "He stepped up and was solid down the stretch. He had a big offensive rebounds, he had a good put back and a pair of foul shots. It was a great team effort, you know what I mean? I hate to single out one guy, but he was great, everyone was great too."
 
Kyheim Hall had another work-man-like effort for Clarion with 17 points, he shot 7 of 8 from the floor, six rebounds and two steals. Cameron Grumley added four points, four steals, two assists, a rebound and a blocked shot, an amazing one on Cal's 6-foor-8, 240-pound freshman Tony Richardson. Matt D'Amico chipped in with six points, three assists and three steals.
 
Clarion shot 47.4 percent (27 of 57) from the floor including a sizzling 15 of 28 in the second half while also converting on 24 of 36 free throws.
 
The Golden Eagles, who trailed 34-32 at halftime thanks to a half-ending 10-2 run that started with 2:25 to play in the half, also kept their turnovers under 20 with 19 and outscored the Vulcans 27-21 off turnovers.
 
Clarion returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 when it hosts Bloomsburg. The Golden Eagles will then host East Stroudsburg at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 before hitting the road for a 3 p.m. game at West Chester Dec. 20, the final game before 2015.