ESU-Clarion Men's Basketball

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Clarion went ahead with a 12-1 spurt late in the second half and then held on to defeat East Stroudsburg University, 91-89, in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday.

Behind, 71-68, the Golden Eagles scored five straight points to take the lead as Rollie Smith made two free-throws and Tamir Harbin then drove in for a three-point play.

After ESU's Tim Bishop made one free throw, Clarion ran off seven straight points for a 80-72 edge with 4:01 remaining. David Shearer hit a jump shot and Steve Serwatka followed with a steal and layup and a three-point play.

The Warriors' Juwan Justice single-handedly kept ESU alive, scoring the team's last 15 points, including seven straight free throws. The Warriors got back to within a basket at 89-87 on Justice's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left. Shearer connected on two free throws to up the lead to 91-87 with 27 seconds to go.

Justice got fouled inside and sank two more foul shots with 15 seconds left to bring ESU back again to within two points. The Warriors tried desperately to foul and finally caught Harbin with 4.5 seconds left. Harbin missed both free throws and ESU hurried down the court but David Majeski's long-range 3-pointer from the left was off the mark at the buzzer.

The Warriors had a 3-pointer at the end of the first half with R.C. Kehoe flinging in the ball from just over halfcourt. That tied the game at 39.

Justice had his second straight big scoring game with 29 points on 7 for 15 shooting from the floor, including four 3-pointers, and 11 of 12 free throws. He had tallied 34 points with a school-record 10 3-pointers in a 75-72 win over Cheyney Wednesday night.

Kehoe added 21 points, making 8 of 11 shots including 5 of 8 'threes' against his former teammates. He played for Clarion for two years before transferring to ESU last January. Shadad Abdur-Rahkman and Wayne Bishop each added 14 points.

The Golden Eagles had four players in double figures led by Harbin with 23 points. Serwatka, the conference's leading scorer with a 21.5-point average entering the game, contributed 19 points, Smith 18 and Shearer 17.

The game featured sizzling shooting by both teams with ESU hitting 57 percent of their field goal attempts (30-53) and 82 percent of their foul shots (18-22). Clarion was 54 percent from the floor (29-54) and 82 percent from the line (26-32). The Eagles had 29-25 rebounding edge with Shearer the game leader with six.

With the win, Clarion raised its record to 8-4 while ESU fell to 7-6. The Warriors will play host to Lock Haven today at 3 p.m. while the Eagles travel to Kutztown, also for a 1 p.m. game.

Serwatka 7 3-4 19, Nesmith 2 0-0 4, Starkey 1 1-1 3, Smith 5 5-6 18, Harbin 7 7-9 23, Shearer 5 7-8 17, Stevens 2 3-4 7, Trader 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29 26-32 91

Abdur-Rahkman 7 0-0 14, Majeski 0 0-0 0, Justice 7 11-12 29, Kostic 0 0-0 0, Bishop 5 2-4 14, Kehoe 8 0-0 21, Kelley 0 5-6 5, Collins 0 0-0 0, Wimmer 0 0-0 0, Georges 1 0-0 2, Driscoll 2 0-0 4. Totals: 30 18-22 89

Three-Point Goals: Clarion - Smith 3, Harbin 2, Serwatka 2; ESU - Kehoe 5, Justice 4, Bishop 2

Halftime: 29-29 Tie