INDIANA, Pa. – Traveling to Indiana, Pennsylvania for a PSAC West match-up, the Clarion men's basketball team dropped an 82-71 decision to the Crimson Hawks on Saturday evening.
 
The loss drops Clarion to 4-15 overall and 3-10 in the PSAC while IUP improves to 17-1 overall and 10-0 in league play.
 
The Blue and Gold kept it close for much of the first half, shooting an impressive 47.2% from the floor  and a staggering 66.7% from beyond the arc. After the Crimson Hawks jumped out to an early 8-1 lead the Golden Eagle offense settled in and started to claw their way back. James Price made a layup at the 14:20 mark to put Clarion up one 9-8 and the teams would trade baskets for the net few minutes.
 
IUP caught the hot shooting hand late in the first half building a lead as large as 10 thanks to a 10-0 scoring run lead by Dave Morris pacing the Crimson Hawks with five points. The Blue and Gold wouldn't go away though as the offense managed to tie the game at 38 a piece with just under a minute left in the half thanks to some strong post play by Jordan Agyemang who grabbed an offensive rebound and finished strong under the hoop drawing the and one foul.
 
After a foul by Sheriff Conteh in the last forty seconds of the half, IUP knocked down two free throws to take a 40-38 heading into the half.
 
IUP came out shooting lights out to start the second half looking to push the offensive tempo and build on their lead. Ethan Porterfield started the half with a three building the lead to five. Clarion would go cold to the start the  half as the IUP lead grew to 10 but Stevan Rodriguez pulled Clarion back within single digits at the 14:42 mark drilling a long range three to put Clarion down 53-46.


Both teams would battle back and forth the entire half but Clarion could not pull any close then five points for the duration of the game. A jumper by Godspower Ogide pulled Clarion back within five with just over 12 minutes remaining the game but again IUP would go on a short run to regain momentum.
 
Free throws were the story of the second half for the Crimson Hawks shooting 16-22 from the charity stripe compared to Clarion's 7-11. IUP shot a total of 36 free throws on the evening knocking down 29 with Clarion getting to the charity stripe just 16 times making nine.
 
On the day, Clarion shot 40% from the floor on 28 of 70 shooting, while IUP shot 40% as well, converting 22 of 55 attempts and knocking down 9 of 26 from beyond the arc.
 
A great night on the glass for Clarion the Golden Eagles out rebounded the Crimson Hawks 44-33. The Blue and Gold also held a 17-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Clarion was led offensively by Rodriguez who finished the night with 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Three other Golden Eagles finished in double figures with Elijah Cottrill, Price and Agyemang all scoring 11 points. Price finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while Agyemang needed two more boards for a double-double.  
 
Malik Miller had a game-high 27 points and four rebounds to lead the Crimson Hawks, while Morris  added 12 points and five assists on the night .
 
The Golden Eagles will conclude their two game road trip on Wednesday, January 29^th, when they travel to Cal U to take on the Vulcans. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm.