The Clarion University men’s basketball team will play Millersville at 1 p.m. Saturday at California’s Hammer Hall in the PSAC semifinals. It is the third trip to the semifinals since 1997 for the Golden Eagles, who won the PSAC championship in 2001.

The game can be heard on WWCH Radio in Clarion (1300 AM) and on the Internet at www.redzonemedia.com with Rich Herman providing the play-by-play.

"We are excited to be in the semifinals," Clarion head coach Ron Righter said. "When you get to this point in the season every team is a good one. To be here is a testament to our players. They have played very well this season. Considering we lost three 1,000-point career scorers from last year’s team, we needed to have players step us this year and they have. We are just going to take it one game at a time starting with a very tough Millersville squad. The road to the final four is a tough one, but our goal remains trying to bring home the PSAC Title and qualify for the NCAA playoffs."

The winner of the game plays the winner of the other semifinal contest between California and West Chester in the PSAC Championship Game at 2 p..m. Sunday also at Cal. The winner of the PSAC title gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament’s East Region, which starts March 14.

Clarion (19-9), the third seed from the PSAC-West, qualified for the semifinals with a 76-63 win at second-seeded Edinboro in the first round Tuesday. Rollie Smith led the Golden Eagles with 24 points. Dereck Rankin added 20 points, Chris Kelley had 15 points & 7 rebounds and Terrance Vaughns had 11 points.

Millersville (22-5), the top seed from the PSAC-East, reached the semifinals with an 83-63 win over fourth-seeded Mansfield at home in the first round Tuesday. Gerald Redding had 26 points & 11 rebounds, Toochi Udeinya added 15 points & 12 boards, Michah Davenport had 16 points and Khari McKie had 14 points.

Clarion and Millersville met once this season with the Marauders gaining a 75-73 win at Clarion Dec. 7 when Redding hit two free throws with three seconds left to win the game. Smith (27 points) and Vaughns (15 points) paced Clarion. Udeinya (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Davenport (20 points & 12 boards) led Millersville.

On the season, Smith (19.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.8 spg), Rankin (12.3 ppg, 3.0 apg), Vaughns (10.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.3 apg), Kelley (10 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Green (9.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg) lead Clarion.

Redding (16.6 pph, 5.4 rpg, 3.4 apg), Davenport (12.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Udeinya (12 ppg, 8.1 rpg) lead Millersville, which has won nine in a row and is ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II East Region.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Tickets can be purchased at the gym one hour before the start of the first contest ...The cost of tickets is $14 for a two-day ticket and $5 for a two-day student ticket. Only two-day tickets will be sold the first day. Single-game tickets if available will only be sold for the championship game Sunday at a cost of $8 for adults and $5 for student ... Clarion is now 6-5 in the PSAC Playoffs under Righter ... In 2001 Clarion beat Bloomsburg 70-65 in the semifinals and West Chester 80-77 in overtime in the title game to win its first PSAC Title with Smith being named the tournament MVP ... In 1997, the Golden Eagles beat Cheyney 98-61 in the semifinals before losing to Mansfield 94-80 in the title game ... This is Millersville first trip to the PSAC semifinals since it lost 80-74 to California in 1995. Millersville has won 3 titles (1987,1989,1993).