CLARION, Pa. – Making a return to their home court for the first time in three games, the Clarion men's basketball team delivered a 71-66 victory over visiting Pitt-Johnstown, Saturday afternoon.

The Mountain Cats jumped out to an early eight-point lead at 30-22 but the Golden Eagles used a some heads up shooting and stellar offense to keep it close trailing 41-32 heading into the halftime break. Elijah Cottrill paced the Clarion offense in the first half, scoring 11 of his game-high 25 points on 5 of 10 shooting.

Clarion shot 40% from the floor in the first half, getting up and down the floor quickly, helping them withstand the hot shooting hand of UPJ's Caiden Landis. Landis was 7 of 9 shooting  scorching the net for 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first half.
 
A 12-0 run mid-way through the second half making it 52-50, helped Clarion ultimately take over the game and shift the momentum.  
 
The Mountain Cats would build their lead to seven at the 6:49 mark of the second half, but a good layup by Brandon Williams and a three pointer from Elijah Cottriil cut the lead to just two points heading into the media timeout.  
 
The Golden Eagles would take the lead for good at the 1:28 mark in the second half off of a deep three from sophomore guard Khari Williams and never look back building their lead to the final deficit five.

For the game, Clarion shot 43.3% from the floor, converting 26 of 60 attempts, including 14 of 22 from the free throw line.

Cottrill led the Golden Eagles with 25 points, while B. Williams finished the night with 12 points to go along with four rebounds and 2 assists.


K. Williams finished the night with 10 points and three boards, while Lawrence Lemon added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Clarion will hit the road for a non-conference match-up against Salem University, February 13^th set to start at 7 p.m., before returning home to take on PSAC West Rival Slippery Rock at 3 p.m. on February 16^th.