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Complete
Box Score
EDINBORO, PA – The Edinboro men’s
basketball team clinched a home game in the first round of the
PSAC Playoffs with an 81-58 victory over visiting Clarion on
Wednesday. The win avenged an earlier 75-67 loss at Clarion and
assured the Fighting Scots of no worse than a second place finish
in the PSAC West. Edinboro will host a PSAC quarterfinal game on
Tuesday, February 27.
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Tthe Fighting Scots made
the most of Senior Night, defeating Clarion. Pictured at
top is Daren Tielsch and head coach Greg Walcavich. In
the bottom photo, Curtis Ingram is shown with Walcavich,
along with his mother, Portia, and father, Carlton. Photo
courtesy Michael Gallagher |
Edinboro improved to 18-8 overall with its
fourth straight win, and is now 8-3 in the PSAC West. The Fighting
Scots play at California(Pa.) on Saturday night, with the winner
finishing as the number one seed out of the West, and the loser
the second seed. It marks the seventh consecutive season head
coach Greg Walcavich’s team finished either first or second
in the division.
The loss dropped Clarion to 12-14 overall and
5-6 in the PSAC West. The Golden Eagles need either a Lock Haven
loss against Indiana(Pa.) or a win over Slippery Rock on Sunday to
secure the final playoff berth in the West.
The Fighting Scots featured four players in
double figures, led by Devon Knight with 19 points. The 5’9”
junior made 7 of 12 field goals, including 3 of 3 three-pointers,
and pulled down 6 rebounds. Joseph Jones added 17 points and 9
assists, making 5 of 8 three’s as Edinboro made a season-high
11 three-pointers in 18 attempts.
Seniors Daren Tielsch and Curtis Ingram were
honored before the game in their final regular season home
appearance, then went out and scored 15 and 12 points,
respectively. Tielsch added 8 rebounds and Ingram 7 boards.
Ryan McLemore and Vlad Kovalevsky led a huge
rebounding advantage for the Fighting Scots. McLemore had 12
boards, along with 3 blocked shots, while Kovalevsky came off the
bench to pull down 10 rebounds. Edinboro ended the night with a
51-36 advantage on the glass.
Edinboro shot 43.1 percent for the game, but
held Clarion to 36.5 percent. The Fighting Scots entered the game
leading the PSAC in scoring defense and field goal percentage
defense. It marked the 11th time this season the Fighting Scots
held an opponent under 60 points. Edinboro also turned the ball
over just nine times, with Clarion committing 10 turnovers.
The game opened with both teams struggling to
make a basket. Neither team reached double figures until Knight
scored on a layup at the 10:33 mark to give Edinboro a 10-6 lead.
A Clarion bucket cut the margin to 15-14 with 8:02 to play, but
Edinboro proceeded to go on a 20-2 run over the next seven
minutes. That gave Edinboro a 35-16 lead with just over a minute
remaining in the half. Jones scored 11 points in the run, with
Ingram adding seven.
Edinboro ended the first half with a 37-20 lead
while making 6 of 9 three-pointers and holding Clarion to 30.8
percent shooting from the floor. Clarion scored the first basket
of the second half to cut the margin to 15, but the Fighting Scots
scored the next two baskets to quell any comeback hopes. The lead
would grow to as high as 29 points on two occasions in the second
half, the last at 74-45 with 4:06 to play on Knight’s final
basket of the evening. |
