ERIE, Pa. - Not even long Senior Night festivities during the pregame could stop the red hot Gannon men's basketball team Wednesday night. The Golden Knights raced out to a 19-4 lead and never looked back during a 71-54 victory against Clarion before 1,175 fans who roared their appreciation during senior introductions.
Gannon clinched a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament first-round bye and a quarterfinal home game that accompanies it with Wednesday's victory. The Golden Knights can clinch at least a share of the division title and the Western Division's top seed with a win Saturday afternoon at Pitt-Johnstown.
Two juniors took center stage during Senior Night. After being honored during pregame activities for scoring his 1,000th career point Saturday night at IUP,
Adam Blazek (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) tied a career-high with five three-pointers en route to a game-high 21 points. In the paint,
Raphell Thomas-Edwards (Leicester, England/The Gateway School) recorded his third double-double of the season while scoring 12 points and tying a career-high with 14 rebounds.
Gannon led from wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 15-point lead just over eight minutes into the game. Blazek and
Girbran Smith (Nassau, Bahamas/Seton Academy) hit back-to-back three-pointers before
A'Darius Porter (Stockbridge, Ga./Woodland) converted a lay-up to give the Golden Knights an 8-0 advantage 2:30 into the contest.
Another Blazek bomb pushed the Gannon lead into double digits two minutes and 16 seconds later at 13-2. The opening run finally came to a close with consecutive lay-ups by Smith,
C.J. Oldham (Solon, Ohio/Solon) and Blazek. The end result was a 19-4 lead with 11:26 left in the first half.
The home squad's lead grew to 26-9 with under nine minutes left in the first half. Blazek last-second three-point heave at the buzzer sent Gannon into the halftime locker room with its biggest advantage of the opening stanza at 39-21.
Gannon grabbed its largest lead of the evening 5:27 into the second half at 47-24. The Golden Knights' edge reached 23 points on three more occasions, but Clarion was never able to get closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
Blazek led all scorers with 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. The junior guard reached the 20-point plateau for the eighth time this season and 17th time during his career while going 8-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from long range.
Thomas-Edwards was the only other Golden Knight in double figures with 12 points and 14 rebounds. The junior forward has recorded two double-doubles in the last three games.
Gannon shot 49.1 percent (27-55) from the field, 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range and 83.3 percent (10-12) from the free throw line. The Golden Knights hit 7-of-10 triples during the first half.
PSAC Western Division Player of the Week DeMarius Miller headlined the Clarion attack with 16 points. Aaron Johnson and Mike Kromka added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Clarion shot 41.7 percent (20-48) from the floor, 23.8 percent (5-21) from behind the arc and 56.3 percent (9-16) from the charity stripe.
Gannon, ranked sixth in the initial NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings released this afternoon, improved to 17-8 overall and 12-3 in the PSAC Western Division with its season-best sixth consecutive victory and 11th win in the last 12 games. The Golden Knights have defeated Clarion nine consecutive times overall and 15 straight times at the Hammermill center. The Golden Eagles fell to 5-17 overall and 3-11 in divisional play with their 20th consecutive road loss dating back to last season.
Head coach
John T. Reilly's club concludes the regular season Saturday, February 22 at Pitt-Johnstown. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Gannon Booster Club still has a few seats remaining on its bus trip to UPJ. Those interested should call the Booster Club as soon as possible at (814) 871-5668.
