LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Clarion men's basketball team faced its toughest test of the young season on Saturday, falling by a score of 88-65 to Lock Haven at Thomas Fieldhouse. The Golden Eagles (1-3, 0-1 PSAC) will try to rebound tomorrow when they travel to Kutztown to take on the Golden Bears.
 
Both teams suffered from huge amounts of turnovers, Clarion committing 18 giveaways,while the Bald Eagles had 10 turnovers. Lock Haven was able to convert those Golden Eagle mistakes though, outscoring Clarion 27-10 in points off turnovers. The Bald Eagles also shot lights-out from beyond the three-point line, going 14-of-28 (50%).
 
Elijah Cottrill had a team-high 18 points in 34 minutes played, followed by Lawrence Lemon, who had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Redshirt freshman Kass Taylor came off the bench to score four points and grab three rebounds, while freshman Sheriff Conteh added seven points in relief.
 
Clarion opened the game on a 8-2 run but the Bald Eagles settled down and began to claw their way back. Noah Warren hit a jumper at the 14:49 mark to give Lock Haven a 15-13 lead. Turnovers would plague the Golden Eagles early as the Bald Eagles went on a 13-0 run to pull ahead.
 
J. Williams ended the scoring drought when he hit a three pointer off an assist from Khari Williams midway through the first half.
 
The lead continued to quickly increase to the high double-digits but Clarion responded again late, cutting it to 42-28 on a jumper beyond the arc by Cottrill. Cottrill made two free throws with 2:08 left to pull Clarion within 13 points. Jihad Barnes made a 3 pointer with 1:12 left in the first half to set the halftime deficit at 47-31.
 
Cottrill started the second half knocking down a pair of free throws to cut the Bald Eagle to just 19 points. Javontay Pipkin made a layup at the 15:13 mark after being fouled by Barnes converting the and-one to make it 62-42, but from there Lock Haven took full control. They continued to shoot well from beyond the arc as the lead eventually reached its peak of 23 points.