CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a tightened-up second half effort, defeating Lock Haven 79-67 at Tippin Gymnasium on Saturday. Clarion (5-4, 1-3 PSAC West) limited their mistakes in the final 20 minutes of action to pick up the double-digit victory over the Bald Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagles struggled with turnovers in the first half, giving the ball away 14 times which helped to keep Lock Haven within just two possessions despite Clarion's 52.0 field goal percentage in the period. They tightened things up in the second half, though, committing just six turnovers the rest of the way and depriving the Bald Eagles of easy buckets. In doing so, they held Lock Haven to just a 38.9 field goal percentage in the second half.
 
The offense was evenly spread throughout the primary Clarion rotation, with Gerald Jarmon leading all Golden Eagles with 17 points on the afternoon. Connor Ferrell and Mekhi Reynolds each chipped in 14 points, with the latter making 4-of-6 three-point attempts. Ferrell dished out a team-high five assists, and three players – Mason Mraz, Lawrence Lemon and Madior Seye – pulled down six rebounds. Clarion out-rebounded Lock Haven by a 41-30 margin.
 
Lock Haven held a lead for just 1:03 of game time, when Eli Washington scored the opening bucket at the 18:56 mark of the game. Mason Mraz countered with what would be the first of three treys in this game and the Golden Eagles never looked back, holding the lead for the duration. Lemon and Jarmon made three-pointers on subsequent possessions to cap a 9-2 run to open the game, and an old-fashioned three-point play by Jarmon at the 10:34 mark gave the Golden Eagles a 20-9 lead.
 
The first half lead got as high as 14 points for Clarion, but turnovers committed by the Golden Eagles helped to keep the Bald Eagles in the fight. Lock Haven pulled to within 33-30 after a free throw by Dymir Montague at the 1:32 mark, the first time the teams were within a possession of one another since the very early moments. Kaison Branch knocked down a trey near the end of the half, making it 36-30 heading in the break. Clarion again pushed the lead well into double-digits in the second half, going up 46-32 on a jumper by Jarmon, but Lock Haven scored 10 straight to cut it to a two-possession game with 14:04 to play.
 
It got no closer than that, though. Reynolds made it a 70-58 with a three-pointer from the wing, and then added a pull-up jumper in the paint at the 3:00 mark to make it 74-62. Ferrell sank a pair of free throws with 1:47 remaining to keep the lead at 12 points, effectively ending any chance of a Lock Haven comeback.