CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle men’s basketball team dropped a competitive game against a nationally-ranked Gannon team on Saturday afternoon, starting out hot but ultimately falling by a score of 95-73. The Golden Knights entered the game ranked as high as 10th in the nation by one outlet.
(Pictured: Jayson Harris)
A strong start from behind the three-point arc powered the Golden Eagles’ offense, with Clarion hitting five of their first seven trey attempts to build a multiple-possession advantage over the Golden Knights. That included two from Gavin Cote and another from Steve Kelly before the 12-minute media timeout. Cam Kearney gave the Golden Eagles their biggest lead of the day with 12:37 left to play in the first half, throwing down a thunderous dunk off a nice dish from Jaylen Shippen to make it a 22-14 lead.
Gannon would quickly respond with a run of their own, punctuated with an old-fashioned three-point play from Cenker Evran to knot the game up at 28. The Golden Knights’ pressure would start to cause problems for the Clarion offense, forcing six turnovers over the final five minutes. Kearney would not let his team fall too far behind before halftime, scoring six of his team-high 19 points in the final three minutes of the half to make it 48-39 at the break.
Early in the second half, Justice Easter would convert a euro-step layup through the paint to cut the Gannon advantage to 53-43. For the next couple of minutes, the Golden Eagles and the Golden Knights traded punches back and forth with the lead fluctuating to double digits, until Clarion cut the lead to seven points after a fast break layup from Kearney. With 12:45 left on the clock, the freshman duo of Jahmari Hamilton-Brown and Cote would link for an aerobatic alley-oop that got Tippin Gymnasium to their feet, cutting the lead to eight. Hamilton-Brown was a spark off the bench, scoring ten points and grabbing five rebounds.
Turnovers plagued Clarion after the 12-minute media timeout, though, leading to a 17-2 Gannon run that put the game out of reach. Traden Gray converted a tough layup off an offensive rebound, one of his six rebounds, to bring the deficit under 20 with 6:26 to play. Gannon widened the lead one final time to 25 and cruised to a victory.
The Golden Eagles will be on the road for their next game as they travel to Slippery Rock on Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
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