SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Clarion men's basketball team dropped a PSAC West road contest on Monday night, falling 87-65 to Slippery Rock at the Morrow Fieldhouse.  The Golden Eagles (9-15, 5-14 PSAC) will hit the road for a road contest against Cal U on February 19^th at 3:00 pm before returning home on February 21st. 
 
Kaison Branch scored a team-high 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting and four rebounds, while steady senior guard Connor Ferrell added 13 points five assists and two boards. Steve Kelly saw significant action off the bench playing 17 minutes and contributing three points and one assist. 
 
Clarion shot an impressive 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half but would not be able to keep the pace in the second half, finishing the game with a 31% average from long range. 
 
The Golden Eagles struggled on offense, shooting just 43.4 percent from the field and making just 23 shots over the course of the night. Slippery Rock held a commanding 38-27 lead heading into the halftime break, but the hot shooting Rock shot 54 percent in the second half to pull ahead and run away with the result.
 
Slippery Rock's Amante Britt finished the night with a game high 33 points on 13 of 18 shooting, adding seven boards to go along with the hot hand.
 
The Rock quickly built a 22-5 lead, as the Clarion attack just couldn't manage to gain footing.

The Golden Eagles chipped away at the home team's lead, cutting the deficit to just single digits with 4:42 left to play in the first frame, but that's all the closer the Blue and Gold would get as SRU knocked down their last three shots to take an 11 point lead into the break. 
 
Slippery Rock picked up the pace through the second half, going on an 11-0 run to take all the momentum. Things carried on from there as The Rock continued to pull away, building a lead as large as 33 points and ultimately taking the game by a final score of 87-65.