MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle men's basketball team overcame a halftime deficit with an inspired run in the second half, beating Frostburg State 82-76 to close their weekend at the Millersville Tipoff Classic. Clarion (2-0) has won their first two games of the season for the first time since the 2010-11 season, when they won nine straight to open the slate.
 
The teams traded seven leads over the course of 40 minutes, mostly during a hectic first half where both sides held sizable leads at one point or another. The Bobcats opened the game on a 10-2 run but Clarion responded by scoring 15 of the next 19 points to take a lead of their own. Frostburg State held a slim four-point lead at the half but the Golden Eagles took the lead for good just four minutes into the second half. Despite foul trouble to key players and the Bobcats making clutch shots late, the Golden Eagles fended them off for the win.
 
Gerald Jarmon tied for the game-high with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, with the sophomore putting in 37 minutes of action. Kaison Branch and Lawrence Lemon each posted 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Connor Ferrell – playing with four fouls for the majority of the second half – contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Clarion dominated in the paint with a 42-28 scoring advantage there.
 
Torrin Stephens gave the Bobcats a 10-2 lead early after taking a feed from Jaylon Johnson and laying it in, but Clarion began to push back and eventually tied it at 12 on a score by Steve Kelly. Jarmon pushed them over the top with a three at the 13:19 mark to make it 15-12. It was a slugfest for the rest of the first half as the teams saw little daylight between them. Ferrell did make it a 26-20 lead at one point but Frostburg went on a 10-1 run of their own to take a three-point lead. Marcellus Carroll scored with 24 seconds remaining in the half to give the Bobcats a 38-34 lead at the break.
 
The Golden Eagles got their first lead of the second half on a three-pointer by Kaison Branch with 16:50 remaining, making it 44-42, but they would officially take it for good 30 second later when Madior Seye scored on the fast break to make it 46-43. Jarmon made it 53-45 with a fast break layup after stealing the ball and taking it the other way, and the lead hovered around three possessions for most of the half.
 
A key moment came at the 3:11 mark, with Clarion leading 73-65. Facing a late shot clock situation, Jarmon sank a midrange jumper at the buzzer through contact by Jaylon Johnson. He finished off the and-one to make it 76-65. Clutch shots from the Bobcats pulled them all the way to within three points, but Connor Ferrell dumped a pass into the paint to Lemon for an easy bucket with 14 seconds remaining to end the threat.