CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle men's basketball team enjoyed stretches where they stood tall with the 20^th-ranked team in the nation, but Clarion could not keep up with Mercyhurst in falling by a 96-73 score to the Lakers in Tippin Gymnasium.
 
There were periods of play where Clarion went toe-to-toe with their nationally-ranked opponent, especially in the early portions of the first and second halves. In each instance though the Laker offense was able to put pressure on the Golden Eagles, going on long runs themselves to finish off the 23-point win.
 
Cam Kearney tied his season-high with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a 3-of-5 mark from three-point range. Mekhi Reynolds came off the bench for 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while also pulling down a team-high five rebounds. Gerald Jarmon added 14 points, three rebounds and a steal.
 
Both teams shot the ball well in the game, with Clarion going off for 49.1 percent from the field and the Lakers 56.7 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles were slightly more efficient from three-point range, going 8-of-16, while Mercyhurst shot 11-of-23 from beyond the arc.
 
The sides traded buckets in the first seven minutes of action, with Justice Easter tying the game at 5-5 with a three-pointer and Jayson Harris making it 7-7 with a putback. Jarmon briefly gave the Golden Eagles a one-point lead with a free throw at the 15:38 mark, and Kearney tied it up at 12 with a midrange jumper.
 
The floodgates broke at that point, though, as Mercyhurst scored 14 of the next 16 points to take a 26-14 lead midway through the half. Reynolds got the deficit back into single digits with a three-pointer at the 7:44 mark, making it 33-24, but the hot-shooting Lakers eventually carried a 54-36 lead into the halftime break.
 
From there Mercyhurst settled into a groove, though the Golden Eagles showed sparks of life at different points of the half. In one such stretch Kearney scored eight consecutive points for Clarion, including an old-fashioned three-point play through a foul by Sean Fullerton, and a trey from the deep corner at the 11:51 mark to make it 73-51. Kearney hit three-pointers on back-to-back offensive possessions, taking feeds from Reynolds and Steve Kelly respectively to reach his career-high in scoring. Jaylen Shippen chipped in five points down the stretch.
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