Box Score
Millersville, Pa. - A quick burst to start the second half was all Clarion needed to distance itself from Millersville in Saturday's PSAC contest at Pucillo Gymnasium. A tie game at the half turned in a 12-point Clarion lead in just five minutes, and the Golden Eagles held on to deal Millersville a 77-71 defeat.
Millersville (2-6, 0-4 PSAC) led 30-23 with 5:09 left in the first half, but Clarion (5-3, 3-1 PSAC) closed the half on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 34. The Golden Eagle momentum carried right into the second. Leonard Patterson converted a three-point play to start the run, and a Winfield Willis 3-pointer with 14:50 to go built the advantage to 48-36--Clarion's largest lead of the game.
Clarion held a 60-48 advantage with seven minutes to go, and Millersville tried to start chipping away. With just under two minutes left,
Mike Seibert cashed a 3-pointer, and
Jaymes Miller and
Anthony Coleman scored on back-to-back possessions to bring Clarion's lead to 69-65. Clarion's Bud Teer hit one of two at the line with 49 seconds left to keep it a two-possession game. Millersville rallied again, trading four Clarion free throws with threes from Seibert and
Larry Grant. Grant's three with 10 seconds left pulled Millersville to within 74-71, Willis put away the win with three free throws in the final seven seconds.
Four of Millersville's six consecutive losses have been by single digits and the team has held a halftime or second half lead in four of the games.
Grant led Millersville with his second straight 20-point game and his third of the season. His 20 points came on 7-of-14 shooting. Seibert added 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from three.
Elijah Obade grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points.
Willis' 24 points led five Golden Eagles in double figures. Clarion shot 53.5 percent from the field as a team, becoming the fourth team in a row to shoot at least 48 percent from the field against Millersville.
The Marauders hit the road next weekend for PSAC games at Edinboro and Lock Haven.
