JOHNSTOWN, Pa.- Hitting the road for their first game in almost a week, the Clarion men's basketball team dropped a nail biter to PSAC opponent Pitt-Johnstown by a final score of 78-72. The Golden Eagles fall to .500 on the year with an overall record of 6-6 and 2-5 in the PSAC conference, while the Mountain Cats improve to 10-3 and 6-1 in the conference.
It was Clarion that got the scoring started to start the game after
Gerald Jarmon knocked down a jumped in transition. UPJ answered immediately with a layup of their own and that is the last time that the Golden Eagles were ahead.
The Mountain Cats built a lead as large as 10 points midway through the first half, but Clarion would continue to battle and keep the game close.
Kaison Branch forced a steal with 10:05 left in the half and found a wide open Jarmon in transition allowing for the sure shooter to knock down an uncontested three pointer cutting teh lead to just seven points.
UPJ answered with a basket of their own the next possession, but Branch was able to bury a three of his own off of an assist from
Jordan Agyemang to pull the Golden Eagles back within six points, 23-17.
After an offensive rebound and put back by big man
Madior Seye, the 7 foot freshman from Senegal made his presence felt in the paint on teh defensive side, picking up a huge block. In transition Seye flew back down the court and found himself the recipient of Branch pass and score that put Clarion back within just one possession, 24-21.
UPJ picked up the defensive pressure for the last five minutes of the half, forcing multiple turnovers that allowed the Mountain to rebuild their lead and head to the locker room at the half with a 13 point lead on the back of do-it-all scorer John Paul Kromka.
In the second half the Mountain Cats started hot, building their lead to 19 points before forcing a Clarion timeout.
After the timeout break, both teams were able to trade punches back and forth with the Mountain Cat lead hovering around 15 points for the majority of the first part of the second half.
The Golden Eagle offense found new life with 9:41 left in the second half, as senior guard
Connor Ferrell put the team on his back, scoring 14 of his 30 points in the last nine minutes of action.
Ferrell buried a three pointer to cut the Mountain Cat lead to just nine points and continued to orchestrate the offense finding open teams almost every time up the floor.
Ferrell made another jumper at the 7:37 mark, grabbed a rebound on the defensive end of the floor and found Agyemang who was later fouled and split the free throws at the line, putting Clarion down just eight points.
After Fred Mulbah made a jumper, it was Ferrell that answered back again, knocking down a deep three to cut the lead to just seven.
Lawrence Lemon knocked down a three of his own at the 5:07 mark in transition to cut the lead to four but after a turnover and a foul, the Mountain Cats found themselves at the charity stripe, and after two good free throws the lead was back to six points.
Branch brought the ball up the floor and found a cutting Ferrell for a good jumper to put Clarion back within two baskets, but it was Mulbah who closed the coffin on the Golden Eagles scoring back to back layups and keeping the Mountain Cats just out of reach of Ferrell and Clarion.
With 15 seconds left Ferrell made a jumper to cut the lead to six points, but after a foul to stop the clock and a pair of free throws from UPJ's Ryan Smith that's all the closer the Golden Eagles would get.
Ferrell paved the way for the Clarion attack, scoring 30 points on 10 of 21 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
Jarmon finished with 16 points and three assists, while Agyemang ended teh game with a team high 11 boards to go along with five points and three assists.
On the day Clarion shot 41% from the field, 36% from beyond the arc and an impressive 60% from the charity stripe.
Clarion will have a chance to quickly bounce back as they will host Seton Hill on Wednesday, January 17th. Tip-off is slated for 12:30 pm.
