ERIE, Pa. --- The Clarion men's basketball team held tight with a nationally-ranked opponent for 40 minutes for the second time in seven days, but the Golden Eagles fell on the road by a 62-55 score to #20/19 Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon.
 
Just as in their meeting with IUP a week before, Clarion held tough with their nationally-ranked opponent for the duration of the contest. The teams were separated by only four points at the half after Pipeloluwa Ajayi sank a free throw with 18 seconds remaining, and the Golden Eagles nearly erased a double-digit deficit in the second half to get within two possessions.
 
Steve Kelly scored a team-high 13 points in a balanced scoring effort, as every Golden Eagle that touched the court scored at least three points on Saturday. Cam Kearney tacked on 11 points, while Justice Easter added eight points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Gerald Jarmon was the lead scorer off the bench with eight points.
 
The Lakers scored the first 10 points of the night but that turned out to be an aberration as the Golden Eagles stormed back. A 7-0 run by Clarion got them right back into the contest, with Jayson Harris scoring on consecutive possessions to pull his time to within 13-10. Cam Kearney finished off a four-point play at the 3:41 mark of the half, hitting a three-pointer through a foul from Sean Fullerton and making the subsequent free throw to cut it to 19-18. Jarmon capped a three-point play with 48 seconds left in the half to make it 27-24, and the Lakers carried a four-point edge into the halftime break.
 
A brief Mercyhurst run put the Lakers back in control to start the second half, but Clarion responded with a 6-0 run to pull within two possessions. Easter and Kelly made three-pointers on two out of three possessions to cut the lead to 41-35 with 12:54 remaining, and Easter cut the Lakers' lead to 55-48 with 4:20 remaining with a free throw. With 2:20 left in regulation, Kearney hit a transition jumper in the paint and Kelly added a layup to pull the Golden Eagles within 57-53, but that would be the high water mark as the Lakers held on for the win.
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