CLARION, Pa. --- The Clarion men's basketball team took the nation's top team down to the wire on Saturday afternoon, but the Golden Eagles came up just a few shots short as the top-ranked IUP Crimson Hawks held on for a 70-63 win at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
For nearly 34 minutes of action, the Golden Eagles gave the Crimson Hawks everything they wanted and then some, leading IUP for much of the afternoon. It was not until the 6:18 mark of the second half that IUP took the lead for any extended stretch, going up 61-60 on a putback by Tomiwa Sulaiman. Things stayed tight, with Steve Kelly scoring through a foul by Ethan Porterfield and making the ensuing free throw to pull Clarion to within 64-63.
 
That would be the last bucket for the Golden Eagles the rest of the way, though, as IUP tightened up on defense down the stretch. The Crimson Hawks held Clarion to just five points in the final nine minutes of action in completing their comeback. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 14 points in the second half, taking a 50-36 lead with 14:02 remaining in regulation after Kelly fed Fray Nguimbi for a transition dunk.
 
Clarion had a balanced scoring attack, with four of their five starters cracking double-digits in the book. Kelly, Nguimbi and Justice Easter all finished with 12 points, with Nguimbi dominating on the glass for a team-high 11 rebounds as well. Easter was no slouch in the rebounding department, pulling down seven boards. Jayson Harris added 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
 
The Golden Eagles started to break through around the 11-minute mark of the first half, when Cam Kearney hit a three-pointer from the corner to give his team an 18-17 lead. Jihad Simpson tipped in a layup on the team's next possession to make it a three-point game, and Kelly knocked down a transition bucket through a foul by Jaylen Stewart to up the advantage to 23-17. Nguimbi put Clarion ahead 30-21 with a make at just under five minutes to play in the half, but Shawndale Jones got that lead down to seven points before the break.
 
Harris put the Golden Eagles ahead by double-digits early in the second half, making it 40-29 on a midrange jumper, and Nguimbi scored on an offensive putback a few minutes later to make ti 45-32. The high water mark came on Ngumbi's dunk at the 14:02 mark, which gave Clarion a 14-point lead, though the tide turned toward the Crimson Hawks the rest of the way.
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