SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles men's basketball team erased a double-digit halftime deficit with a huge run, but Clarion's comeback effort came up three points short as Shippensburg held on for a 63-66 win at Heiges Field House on Saturday afternoon.
Clarion trailed 33-22 at the halftime break, and the Raiders' lead went to 13 points after they scored on the opening possession of the second half. The Golden Eagles responded with a furious rally over the next four minutes, outscoring Shippensburg 15-2 to tie the score. Cam Kearney contributed the first seven points of the half for Clarion, scoring at the 18:11 mark to make it 35-29, and Shippensburg native Jeremy Thomas II cut it to 35-33 with a transition bucket.
Thomas scored again at the 16:30 mark of the second half to cut the deficit to 37-35, and Justice Easter officially erased the deficit with a couple of free throws on the next possession. That turned the rest of the game into a dogfight as both sides took shots at the other. Easter drained a three-pointer at the 12:47 mark to put the Golden Eagles up 48-46, and the lead reached five points after a jumper by Cam Crockett.
It was then the Raiders' turn to up the ante. They went on a run that eventually turned into a two-possession lead, going up 61-55 on a jumper by Markus Frank, but the Golden Eagles battled back again to even the score. Thomas scored on two consecutive offensive possessions to make it 61-59, and Trey Nelson stole the ball from Jaydon Smith and took it down the floor for a bucket that evened the score.
The Raiders built a four-point lead after another trey by Frank and a free throw make by Timmy Conner, but Kearney made things interesting with a bucket with five seconds left in regulation. Clarion trailed 66-63 and got the ball back with three seconds left but Nelson's desperation three-pointer was off the mark.
Kearney recorded a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds, with the junior going 11-of-13 from the free throw line in addition to 6-of-14 from the field. Thomas scored 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and also added four rebounds and two blocks, while Nelson added 10 points and three assists. Clarion out-rebounded Shippensburg 36-33 but committed 17 turnovers to the Raiders' 13.
