CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles men's basketball team earned their third consecutive victory on Wednesday, showing off a balanced offensive attack and a tenacious defense to cruise to a 99-79 victory over Roberts Wesleyan. Clarion shot an efficient 56.3 percent from the field and drilled 12 three-pointers on the night.
 
Four Golden Eagles scored in double figures, with Cam Kearney leading the team with 26 points and showcasing his three-level scoring ability. Jeremy Thomas II hosted his own in-game dunk contest, slamming five dunks down to finish with 20 points on the evening and sending the Tippin Gymnasium crowd into a frenzy.
 
Clarion opened the second half by going on an 11-4 scoring run to stretch their lead to as many as 19 points. Trey Nelson played a key role as the floor general, creating opportunities for others. He finished the game with 11 assists, including a perfect alley-oop pass to the high-flying Thomas  to give the Golden Eagles a 56-38 advantage.
 
The Redhawks responded with a run of their own, cutting the lead to as little as seven points with 13:44 remaining in the game. A Josiah Dow three-pointer, one of his four on the night, pushed the lead back to double digits. Then the Golden Eagles' defense applied tight pressure on Roberts Wesleyan's ball handlers, with Justice Easter and Kearney stealing the ball on consecutive possessions, leading to easy baskets on the other end to blow the game open once again.
 
From there, the Golden Eagles were able to continue building their lead with the advantage getting as high as 33 points. Clarion was able to capitalize on turnovers and their execution on the fastbreak, scoring 33 points on 20 Roberts Wesleyan turnovers, and finished the game with 22 points on the break.
 
In the first half of the game, the scoring was going back and forth between the two teams, but Clarion gradually built their lead off the back of a strong three-point shooting performance. With 11:30 remaining in the first half, Dow hit the first three-pointer of the night off a Thomas II steal, and on the next possession, Kearney knocked down a corner three to extend the Golden Eagles' early lead to double digits.
 
Clarion torched the nets late in the first half with a trio of three-pointers in just under a minute. Kearney started the barrage with a nice pass from Nelson, and Gavin Cote knocked down two consecutive threes off back-to-back turnovers, including a steal by Cam Crockett, to give Clarion a 16-point lead with just two minutes left in the half.
 
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