SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles fell in their penultimate game of the season on Wednesday night, losing 83-72 to Slippery Rock at Morrow Field House in a PSAC West game. Clarion and the Rock were tight through the first half, but an early run by the latter led to Slippery Rock earning the home win.
 
Cam Kearney moved into 14^th place on the program's all-time scoring list, recording 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. That gave him 1,258 career points and pushed him past David Shearer (1,248). Meanwhile, Gavin Cote went off for 22 points – his best output since Jan. 15 against California (PA) – with four three pointers and a 6-of-16 performance from the field. Jeremy Thomas II had his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, the latter of which was a team high.
 
After a fairly even first half, the Rock began to pull away in the second as they picked up their shooting from the floor. Slippery Rock went 13-of-25 (.520) from the field in the second half, while Clarion shot just 10-of-27 (.370) in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Golden Eagles opened the game on a 9-3 run, with Cote hitting a fast break trey at eh 17:30 mark and Kearney hitting a short jumper 30 seconds later to cap the run. Clarion kept the fast start going later in the half when Thomas stole the ball from Day Waters and took it the other way for a fast break dunk, and Cote robbed Maceo Austin of the ball on the very next possession to trigger another bucket from Thomas. That put Clarion ahead 13-6, but the Rock responded with 15 of the next 17 points to take a 21-15 lead.
 
Thomas stopped the bleeding just past the halfway point of the first half, taking a pass from Josiah Dow and scoring to cut the deficit to four points, and on the next trip down the floor he tipped in an offensive rebound to make it 21-19. Dow hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 25, and Thomas finished off an and-one to put Clarion back on top 33-32. Cote made a three-pointer with 2:25 to go to make it 38-35, but the Rock closed on a 7-2 run to take a two-point lead at the break.
 
Cote struck again early in the second half, pulling the Golden Eagles to within 49-45, but the Rock built the lead to double-digits and it hovered around there for much of the half. Trey Nelson hit a three-pointer with 5:54 to play to pull Clarion to 71-65, and Kearney made a trey with two minutes later to keep it a two-possession game, but the Rock pushed the lead to 11 points before the end of regulation.
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