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GOLDEN EAGLES TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR OWN DESTINY WITH WIN OVER LOCK HAVEN

CLARION – Behind a stellar defensive effort, the Clarion University men’s basketball team took control of it own PSAC Playoff destiny with a 60-54 win over Lock Haven Thursday night at Tippin Gym.

The Golden Eagles (11-13 overall, 5-5 PSAC-West) can clinch a playoff spot by winning its final two regular-season conference games (at Edinboro Wednesday; home to Slippery Rock Feb. 25) or by going 1-1 while Lock Haven and IUP each lose a game.

Thursday night, Clarion limited Lock Haven to 36.1 percent shooting (22 of 61) while forcing the Bald Eagles into 16 turnovers that resulted in 14 Clarion points. The Golden Eagles also shut down the PSAC’s leading scorer Billy Arre holding him to 11 points after he came into the game averaging 22.9 ppg.

Meanwhile, Clarion got a balanced effort with eight of the nine Golden Eagles who played scoring led by 13 points, seven rebounds from Leon Kennedy and 12 points and nine rebounds from Josh Yanke. Demetrius Graham added nine points off the bench, while Lamar Richburg eight.

Clarion built a 31-23 halftime lead thanks to eight points each by Kennedy and Yanke.

But Lock Haven started the second half on a 14-6 run to tie the game at 37 on an Arre three-pointer with 14:05 to play.

Following a Clarion time-out, Brent Nelson gave the Golden Eagles the lead back for good with a lay-up at 13:40. Bobby Franklin followed with a lay-up to make it 41-37, and those two baskets started an 11-4 run for Clarion that gave it a 48-41 lead with 10:37 to play.

Lock Haven was able to whittle the lead to three points at 54-51 on a free throw by Kranthi Senadhi at 3:28. But Senadhi missed the second shot of the one-and-one starting a bad trend for Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles missed seven free throws in a row including the Senadhi miss to help Clarion maintain the lead.

The Golden Eagles were then able to salt the game away by going 6 of 8 from the line in the final 1:19 with Justin Collins and Yanke each hitting two charity shots and Graham and Kennedy going 1-for-2.

Clarion returns to action Monday when it hosts Columbia Union in a non-conference game at 7 p.m. The game can be heard locally in Clarion on 91.7 FM and on the Internet at www.redzonemedia.com. Clarion returns to PSAC-West play Wednesday at Edinboro. That game is also a radio game, while the Golden Eagles close out the home season Feb. 25 when Slippery Rock comes to town for another radio contest.

NOTES – The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed to Thursday because of the winter storm that hit the region Tuesday into Wednesday … Clarion has now won four straight and 6 of 7. The four-game winning streak is the Golden Eagles longest since winning four in a row between Jan. 14-25 last season. Clarion last won five straight during the 2003-04 season when it won six straight … Lock Haven closes PSAC-West play at Edinboro Saturday and home to IUP Feb. 24.