ERIE, Pa. - The 17th-ranked Gannon men's basketball team continues its playoff push Saturday, February 16 with the sixth annual Pink Zone doubleheader against Clarion at the Hammermill Center. The contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be heard live locally on Jet Radio 1400.
Admission to both games of Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader is free of charge. The twinbill begins with the women's teams at 1 p.m. The day will be jammed packed with activities revolving around the Pink Zone.
The Gannon women's basketball team has chosen “Together We Can Dominate” as the theme for this year's Pink Zone game. The Lady Knights, coached by
Cleve Wright, have set a goal of raising $20,000 for the Erie chapter of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and for Linked by Pink. In the past five years, Gannon has raised nearly $68,000 in support of breast cancer research.
Funds will be raised in part through the sale of Dri-FIT t-shirts. The shirts are black and are adorned with “Together We Can Dominate… Gannon Basketball Pink Zone 2013.” They can be purchased for $15 in the front lobby and by contacting the Gannon women's basketball offices at (814) 871-5791. The Lady Knights will also raise money through gameday raffles and other activities. Cancer survivors will be recognized throughout Saturday's women's contest.
The game's “Hall of Fame” sponsors are the Gannon University Athletics Department, the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, WJET-24/FOX-66 and UPMC Hamot.
Additional sponsors include Giant Eagle, UPMC Health Plan, Silkscreen Unlimited, Johannes Chiropractic, ErieBank, Erie Sports Store, Panera Bread, FastSigns, Ambridge Rose Spa and Salon, and Romolo Chocolates. General donations can be made by contacting the Gannon University women's basketball offices at 814-871-5791.
Gannon (19-5, 13-5) followed up two great road wins last week with a hard-fought 67-64 loss to rival Edinboro Wednesday night in front of 1,566 fans at the Hammermill Center.
Head coach
John T. Reilly's club is ranked 17th in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Coaches' Poll. It represents the program's first national ranking since being tabbed fifth in the final 2008-09 poll.
The first NCAA Division II regional rankings are scheduled to be released Wednesday, February 20. The PSAC, the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Tournament champions will receive automatic berths to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. The eight-team field will be filled out with five at-large bids.
Clarion (6-16, 4-14) is fighting for its playoff life. The Golden Eagles are four games behind California (Pa.) for the final postseason bid with four regular-season contests remaining.
The postseason heartbeat remained beating Wednesday night with a dominating 78-51 home victory against Mercyhurst. Marques Jones exploded for a career-high 26 points while falling one three-pointer shy of the school record. His eight triples tied the fourth-highest single-game total in school history behind Kwame Morton, David Cruise and Gregg Frist. Those three former players all hit nine three-pointers in a game.
Offensively, Clarion ranks fourth among PSAC teams in three-pointers per game (6.0). On the other end, the Golden Eagles rank 23rd among all NCAA Division II teams in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.4). Mike Kromka brings one of the PSAC's top talents to Erie. The junior forward ranks fifth in the conference with 9.1 rebounds per game.
Gannon has won six consecutive games against Clarion and leads the all-time series 29-12. The Golden Eagles' last victory in the series was a 70-51 home victory on January 16, 2010. Gannon has won 13 consecutive home games against Clarion. The Golden Eagles haven't won at the Hammermill Center since December 30, 1981.
