CLARION, Pa. --- Gerald Jarmon's potential game-winning shot came up just short at the buzzer as the Golden Eagle men's basketball team fell by a 54-52 score to Shepherd in Tippin Gymnasium on Monday afternoon.
 
Clarion outscored the Rams in the second half and at one point went on a 7-2 run to wrestle the deficit away, with the Golden Eagles evening the score midway through the second half. Mekhi Reynolds drained a midrange jumper at the 12:17 mark to cut the lead to 39-36, and followed that up with a tying three-pointer three minutes later. Madior Seye drained a hook shot to even things up at 41, and Jarmon went coast-to-coast after stealing the ball from Stefan Marcelle to make it a 43-41 Golden Eagle advantage.
 
Shepherd broke a 49-49 deadlock with 36 seconds remaining, when Dan McClain-Corley hit a stepback three-pointer from the right wing. He added two free throws down the stretch to make it a five-point game, but Reynolds knocked down a trey from the left side with 1.2 seconds remaining to pull his team within two. Seye quickly fouled Phillip Jordan, who airballed the front half of a one-and-one to give Clarion life with 1.0 left on the clock. Reynolds threw into Jarmon near half court, but his desperation shot was short of the rim.
 
Jarmon tied for the game-high with 16 points while also setting the game-high with three steals. Reynolds scored 13 points and Justice Easter finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Seye came off the bench for a game-high nine rebounds. Clarion shot 40.7 percent from the field as a team and held the Rams to just 38.9 percent, but the Rams used 12 offensive rebounds and 15 points from those caroms to ice the win.
 
The first half was a seesaw battle, with Easter putting the Golden Eagles ahead 8-4 with his second three-pointer of the first three minutes. The two sides traded leads until roughly the midway point of the half, when Shepherd established a 22-19 advantage with 8:37 left to go. It stayed roughly a two-possession game the rest of the half as the Rams carried a 28-24 advantage into the locker room, and the lead swelled to as many as six points in the second half.
 
Easter drained another trey early in the second half, hitting with 15:57 remaining to cut the lead to 32-31, and followed that up with one more long-range shot to tie the game at 34.
 
 
 
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