CLARION, Pa. – With just one game remaining in the season, the Clarion men’s basketball team faced off against PSAC West opponent the Vulcans of Cal U Saturday afternoon, falling by a final score of 79-54.
(Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
The Golden Eagles will end their season Wednesday, against PSAC foe IUP. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm.
The Vulcans gained an early lead, scoring 15 points in the first eight minutes of the ballgame as Clarion was never able to recover.
The Golden Eagles pulled the game back to within single digits after a Stevan Rodriguez layup found its way into the basket, making the score 15-7 in favor of the Vulcans. Unfortunately, that is as close as the ball game would get, with Cal U building the lead to as big as 23 points in the first half. The Vulcans would take a 38-15 lead in to the half on the backs of Luke House and Brent Pegram.
Jaiquil Johnson paced the Golden Eagles offense all game long, scoring 18 points on 5-10 shooting and two rebounds in 18 minutes of action. Rodriguez added six points and six rebounds, while Kass Taylor, Elijah Cottrill and Jordan Agyemang all added five points for the Blue and Gold. Redshirt-Senior Jake Anderson picked up quality minutes in the contest making his first start of the season. Anderson contributed four points and eight rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
To start the second half Godspower Ogide made a quick layup off an assist from Cottrill, but Tim Smith Jr. answered immediately with a three for the Vulcans. The long ball was the story of the day for the Vulcans as they went 18-37 (49%) from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles shot 28% on the day compared to Cal’s 43%, while shooting just 17% from beyond the arc.
For Cal U Jermaine Hall Jr. scored a game-high 21 points, while Phillip Alexander added 16 points. House grabbed a game-high 13 boards and added nine points for the Vulcans.
The loss moves the Blue and Gold to 5-22 on the year, 3-17 in PSAC play, while the Vulcans improve to 18-8, 14-6 in PSAC play.
WOMEN
CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women’s basketball team fell in their penultimate game of the 2019-20 season, dropping a 65-45 decision to Cal U in Tippin Gym on Saturday afternoon. Clarion (4-23, 2-19 PSAC) will close their season on Wednesday when they host nationally-ranked IUP at 5:30 p.m.
Emily Hegedus led the Golden Eagles in scoring 14 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting performance from the field, and also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Neely Whitehead and Celeste Ryman both came up just short of double-digits in scoring, finishing with nine points apiece.
The Vulcans built their advantage in part because of their ability to create turnovers, forcing 25 giveaways from the Golden Eagles and scoring 21 points off them. They were effective on the fast break as well, outscoring Clarion 20-2 in quick transition situations. Olivia Hudson came off the bench to lead Cal U with 16 points on the afternoon.
Clarion got out to an early lead, with Hegedus sinking a pair of free throws to make it 5-4 in the first quarter. Whitehead made a three-pointer from the corner to bump the lead to 8-6 but Cal U responded and took a 10-8 lead on a make from Bianca Jasper. It stayed within one possession for the rest of the quarter, with Hegedus scoring off an assist from Olivia Boocks to cut the lead to 13-12 with 2:45 remaining. The Vulcans improved their lead to double-digits by the middle of the second quarter, with Hudson sinking a mid-range jumper to make it 27-17, and Ahmya Woodyard scored with less than a second on the clock to set the halftime deficit at 37-22.
The gulf expanded in the second half, going over 20 points after Halle Herrington’s fast-break three-pointer at the 6:17 mark, and the Vulcans settled into a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
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