ERIE, Pa. – The Clarion men's basketball team outscored its opponent in the second half as it tried to rally for a road win, but the Golden Eagles fell short in dropping an 82-69 decision to Mercyhurst on Saturday.  Clarion falls to 7-6 overall and 5-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference (PSAC) play on the season with the loss.
 
Cameron Grumley scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the bench and also added a pair of steals as the Golden Eagles forced 16 Laker turnovers.  Larry Johnson, Jr. and De'Ondre Terrell both contributed 12 points to the effort, with Johnson also recording a game-high seven rebounds. 
 
The Golden Eagles started the process of turning things around against the Lakers in the second half, shooting 14-of-27 from the field for a 51.9 field goal percentage and 43 points in the last 20 minutes of action.  The Lakers were tough to slow down over the course of the entire game, however, as Mercyhurst shot 56.4 percent from the field for the entire game.  Clarion outscored Mercyhurst 14-3 in terms of second chance points but the Lakers controlled the painted area with a 48-26 advantage in inside scoring.
 
Mercyhurst opened the game on a 6-0 run but the Golden Eagles fought back, keeping pace with the Lakers for much of the early portion of the half.  Justin Senou put the Lakers ahead 14-2 but Grumley countered with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it 14-8.  Dobbs kept the deficit at just six points with a pair of free throw makes, and Johnson made a jumper with 9:28 to play in the half to keep it just a two-possession deficit.
 
De'Ondre Terrell made it just 25-19 with a three-pointer at the 7:04 mark but the Golden Eagles got no closer in the half as the Lakers pulled ahead.  Andy Hoying put Mercyhurst ahead 43-26 with a make at the end of the half, and the lead got as big as 22 points early in the second half.  Clarion went on a 24-7 run to pull back within single digits, starting with a layup from Grumley and continuing with a pair of free throw makes that made it 61-53 with 8:56 to play.  Johnson capped the run with a make of his own, scoring in transition after a Jean Onana turnover to pull it to 61-56.  The Lakers rebounded, however, and closed out the game with the 13-point win.