MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle men's basketball team fought off a furious second-half rally to win in overtime on Saturday, with Clarion defeating Claflin 77-72 in the 2021-22 season opener at the Millersville Tipoff Classic. Clarion (1-0) held a double-digit lead against the Panthers after the first half but their opponent rallied back, with the Golden Eagles outscoring them 9-4 in the extra five minutes for the win.
 
The Golden Eagles held the Panthers to just a 29.0 field goal percentage in the first half while shooting nearly 47 percent themselves, taking a 36-24 lead after 20 minutes of action on the neutral court. Claflin turned it around in the second half, shooting better than 55 percent and taking an eight-point lead with 2:58 to play in regulation. Gerald Jarmon and Connor Ferrell chipped in free throws while the Golden Eagles got stops on the defensive end to make it 68-64 with 1:15 left.
 
A big moment came with 47 seconds remaining, when Jarmon hit a jumper and drew a foul to make it 68-66. He missed the ensuing free throw but Jordan Agyemang pulled down the offensive rebound, and the latter grabbed another offensive board off Ferrell's three-point miss. The third opportunity ended up in the basket as Agyemang laid it in with 35 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 68.
 
That sent the game to overtime, where Madior Seye scored the opening bucket. Kaison Branch made two free throws to make it 72-69, and Lawrence Lemon made a jumper off an offensive board to bump the lead to five points. Clarion made their free throws down the stretch and shut down the Panthers defensively to lock up the win.
 
Ferrell notched a team-high 21 points on 5-of-17 shooting, but he also contributed a 10-of-13 night at the free throw line. Jarmon contributed 14 points, while Lemon kicked in a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Seye, a freshman center, added 12 points of his own.  
 
The first half saw Clarion jump out to a 15-9 lead early on, with Seye in particular beating up on the Panthers in the paint. Both teams suffered a long drought midway through the half until Ron Davis III scored in transition to up the lead to eight points. Ferrell made it a double-digit game with a fast break layup at the 5:19 mark, making it 24-13, and later scored again in transition to make it 36-22 before the break.