CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, but Clarion's comeback bid came up just short as Slippery Rock won 97-94 at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
There was a massive momentum shift midway through the second half, after The Rock took a 57-45 lead on a three-pointer by Lashon Lindsey. Lindsey picked up a technical after the make, though, and from there the tide began to turn toward the Golden Eagles. Cam Kearney made the subsequent free throws and Connor Spratt drilled a three-pointer on the following possession, cutting the Rock's lead down to seven points.
 
Gavin Cote continued the rush with a trey of his own, scoring at the 11:11 mark of the half to make it 57-53, and Jeremy Thomas II swiped a pass from Luke Howes and threw it down for a dunk on the next trip down the floor. Jayson Harris completely erased Slippery Rock's lead with a make, and Steve Kelly put Clarion ahead 60-58 with a three-pointer at the 9:29 mark.
 
In the span of just 2:19 the Golden Eagles had turned a deficit of a dozen points to a two-point lead, but a bitter fight down the stretch sent the game to overtime. Ike Herster made a three-pointer with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation, but Cote matched him with just under seven seconds to play, knocking down a shot to go ahead 82-80. Howes scored on the Rock's final possession of the game, going coast to coast for a layup before time expired to send the game to overtime.
 
Both sides traded possessions to start the overtime period, but the Rock eventually took a five-point lead with 26 seconds to play. Kelly rushed down the floor and scored to make it a one-possession game, and Kearney made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to cut the deficit to 97-94. Cote stole the subsequent inbounds pass but the Golden Eagles could not convert on a pair of three-point shot attempts, giving the Rock the win.
 
Kearney finished with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting, as well as an 8-of-10 performance from the free throw line. Thomas finished with eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds in just 23 minutes of action, as the rugged forward dealt with foul trouble for much of the night. Cote scored 18 points by going 6-of-10 from three-point range, and Steve Kelly, Jayson Harris and Justice Easter all cracked double figures.
 
Slippery Rock controlled most of the action in the first half, going ahead 16-8 by the 13-13 mark after a 7-0 run. Their advantage grew as large as 12 points in the first half but Clarion chipped away at it, getting it down to 31-26 after a midrange jumper from Kearney at the 3:39 mark. Kelly added a make with 89 seconds left in the period to cut it to 31-28, but the Rock scored on consecutive possessions to make it 35-28 at the half.
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