ERIE, Pa. – The No. 17 Gannon men's basketball team out-scored Clarion 40-16 in the paint and rolled to its 14th consecutive home victory against the Golden Eagles with a 67-48 verdict in front of 1,643 Pink Zone fans Saturday afternoon at the Hammermill Center. Clarion's drought has now reached 31 years since its last victory at the 'Mill, an 83-80 win during the 1981 Porreco Cup.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division's playoff race got a little more interesting Saturday afternoon with 11th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) falling at Mercyhurst. The Crimson Hawks now hold a one-game lead over Gannon and Slippery Rock with three regular-season games remaining. IUP is scheduled to play at Slippery Rock Saturday, February 23. The Rock then visits Gannon during the final night of the regular season Wednesday, February 27.
The first four minutes featured four lead changes and one tie, but it was all Gannon after that. The Golden Knights ripped off an 11-0 run to grab control.
Adam Blazek (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) pushed the home squad in front for the last time at 9-7 with a three-pointer. The run continued with five straight points from
Oscar Macias (Cicero, Ill./Morton) and a free throw from
Darrell Blanton (Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid). A lay-up by
C.J. Oldham (Solon, Ohio/Solon) capped the stretch to give the Golden Knights a 17-7 edge. In all, the defensive unit held Clarion without a point for three minutes and 24 seconds.
A 7-0 blitz midway through the first half pushed the Gannon lead to 28-11 with 8:14 left on the clock.
Tanner Furno (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) and Macias converted lay-ups, before
Brandon Emmitt (Akron, Ohio/Akron Garfield) sank a three-pointer.
Outside of 39 seconds late in the half, Gannon's lead stayed in double digits for the remainder of the half. The Golden Knights eventually went to the break with a 33-23 advantage.
Clarion made one run at the Golden Knights early in the second half. The Golden Eagles used a mini 7-2 rally to claw within 37-30 a little over two minutes into the stanza.
Gannon responded with a 13-0 run that put the game away. Macias started the rally with consecutive lay-ups. Blazek followed with an old-fashion three-point play, before Blanton and Furno exchanged baskets. A pair of Blanton free throws capped the blitz, giving the Golden Knights a 50-30 lead with 12:26 to play.
The defense was superb again during the run, holding Clarion scoreless for six minutes and 11 seconds. The Golden Eagles missed six consecutive shots and turned the ball over five times during that time span.
A brief 6-0 blitz that included four straight points from Blanton and two Furno freebies gave Gannon its biggest lead of the afternoon at 63-40 with 5:49 to play.
Blanton led all scorers on both teams with 17 points and eight rebounds. Macias netted 16 points for the second consecutive game on 7-of-11 shooting. Furno completed the double-digit trio with 10 markers off the bench. Oldham hauled down a career-high 11 rebounds despite logging a large number of minutes as the point guard.
Robert Wilson (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) dished out a team-high six assists, falling one shy of his season-high.
Gannon shot 43.5 percent (27-62) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-13) from three-point range and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the free throw line.
Mike Kromka and Marques Jones headlined the Clarion attack with 10 points each. The Golden Eagles shot 32.7 percent (18-55) from the floor, 36.8 percent (7-19) from behind the arc and 62.5 percent (5-8) from the charity stripe.
Gannon, ranked 17th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Coaches' Poll, improved to 20-5 overall and 14-5 in the PSAC with its seventh consecutive overall win against Clarion. The victory completed the Golden Knights' third straight season sweep of the Golden Eagles. It also clinched the program's first 20-win season since the 2008-09 squad went 30-4. Meanwhile, Clarion was eliminated from postseason contention while falling to 6-17 overall and 4-15 in conference action.
Head coach
John T. Reilly's club returns to action Wednesday, February 20 at rival Mercyhurst. Game time at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
