ERIE, Pa. – Tania Holmes scored a career-high 30 points, including the game-winning free throws, and the Clarion women's basketball team came back from a fourth quarter deficit to defeat the Mercyhurst Lakers 75-74 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.  The win is the second straight for the Golden Eagles, who improve to 5-8 overall and 5-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference action this year.
 
Holmes went 10-of-17 from the field and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, with no shots more important than her final attempts of the game.  She scored on a layup with 38 seconds remaining in overtime to put the Golden Eagles ahead, making it 73-72.  Holmes was fouled by Hayley Andres with nine seconds remaining and made both subsequent free throws to put Clarion ahead 75-72.
 
 Jalin Steel cut the deficit to one point with a layup with four seconds remaining and the Lakers had the ball in their hands at the end of the game, but Mercyhurst was unable to seal the deal as the Golden Eagles held on for the victory.
 
The Golden Eagles won the game despite a highly-efficient offensive performance from Mercyhurst; the Lakers shot 52.8 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range.  The difference was in the details, though, as Clarion outscored the Lakers 12-4 on second-chance points and 25-19 in points off turnovers.
 
Mercyhurst led by as many as seven points in the third quarter but the Golden Eagles mounted a 10-0 run to regain the advantage against the Lakers.  Holmes drilled a three-pointer with 5:32 left in the period to cut the deficit to three points, and Jordan Bekelja knocked down a trey on the next trip down the floor to tie it up.  Bekelja – who finished the game with a career-high 17 points – capped the run with a layup at the 4:40 mark, putting Clarion ahead 44-40. 
 
Things were knotted up at 46 at the end of the third quarter, though, and Mercyhurst held a 64-62 edge with 42 seconds remaining in regulation after Alex Artise made a pair of free throws.  Holmes tied it with a pair of makes from the charity stripe with 11 seconds left, and Heintz missed a jumper at the end of regulation that would have ended the game.
 
The Lakers took a four-point lead to open the extra session but Holmes knocked down a three-pointer to cut into the lead, and Delrika Jones-Carey put the Golden Eagles back ahead, 69-68, with 2:18 to play.  Holmes scored four straight points to put Clarion ahead 75-72 and eventually win.
 
Clarion opened the game on a 9-2 run, with Tyra Polite making it 7-2 with a trey and Holmes capping the rally with a make at 6:38.  The Lakers went on the offensive with a 15-2 run to go ahead 18-11 before a Clarion rally put them back in the action.