CLARION, Pa. – BJ Andrews had another monster game with a career-high 30 points, but the Clarion University men's basketball team couldn't overcome a dominant inside game by Gannon dropping a 78-71 PSAC West matchup to the visiting Golden Knights Wednesday night at Tippin Gym.
 
Andrews recorded his third straight game of at least 20 points and his fourth such contest in his last five games by hitting 9 of 13 shots from the field including 5 of 7 3-pointers and also going 7 of 10 from the free-throw line. Eighteen of Andrews' points came after halftime.
 
But Gannon dominated inside outscoring Clarion 52-22 in the paint and outrebounding the Golden Eagles 47-18 including 18 to 3 on the offensive glass. That allowed the Golden Knights to score 23 second-chance points.
 
Raphell Thomas-Edwards led Gannon with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Adam Blazek had 16 points and four assists and Girbran Smith 13 points. A'Darius Porter added 12 rebounds and dis points, while Matthew Dogan had 12 points and Rich Austin 10 off the bench.
 
Darius Stevens added 14 points, four rebounds and three steals for Clarion, which was able to keep itself in the game thanks to a defense that recorded 11 steals while turning Gannon over 17 times. That led to 16 Golden Eagles points.
 
Kyheim Hall added 11 points for the Golden Eagles.
 
Clarion trailed 38-32 at halftime after using an 11-2 run late in the half to go up 36-25 with 3:30 left. The Golden Eagles ended the half with a 7-2 run thanks to four points from Brandon Williams, who finished with six.
 
The Golden Eagles then closed within two, 42-40, on a 3-pointer by Andrews with 14:54 to go and still trailed by just a deuce, 44-42, following an Andrews jumper with 13:49 left.
 
But Gannon was able to get the lead back into double digits with an 11-3 run that gave the Golden Knights a 55-45 lead on a Blazek layup with 10:37 to play. The lead eventually grew to as many as 12, 59-47, with 9:42 to play before Clarion went on a 12-4 run that was capped  by a Cameron Grumley triple with 5:42 left that closed the gap to four, 63-59. Grumley had five of the 12 points and Stevens four, including a dunk that brought the Tippin Gym faithful to their feet.
 
Baskets, though, by Blazek and Thomas-Edwards, stopped the Clarion momentum and put the lead back to eight for Gannon, 67-59, with just over four minutes left, and the Golden Eagles never got closer than five the rest of the way with the Golden Knights salting the game away at the free-throw line going 9 of 11 from the charity stripe in the final 1:23.
 
Clarion returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mercyhurst.
 
NOTES – Andrews now has 79 points in his last three games and 110 in his past five while setting a career high for points three times during that five-game span.