DATE: Saturday, January 25, 2013
TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Tippin Gymnasium
RADIO: WFSE 88.9 FM
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/clarion/mbball/
 
Edinboro Game Notes , Clarion Game Notes

Edinboro Season Stats, Clarion Season Stats


SERIES RECORD
IUP leads 95-70

LAST MEETING
February 23, 2013- Edinboro 81, Clarion 63
 
Bryan Theriot posted his tenth double-double of the season to lead four players in double figures as Edinboro swept the season series with Clarion for the first time since 2008-09 with an 81-63 victory. The Fighting Scots trailed on just three occasions, and only be two points at that, but it took a late surge to put away the pesky Golden Eagles.  Clinging to a 52-50 lead with 10:15 to play after Clarion scored seven straight points, the Fighting Scots would score the next nine points. Isaiah Prince started the run with a spinning jumper in the paint.  Jay Fletcher followed with a drive and a free throw, then Will Marrow followed his own miss with a rebound basket. Theriot capped the run with a jumper as Edinboro took a 61-50 lead with 7:37 to play. Clarion would not pull closer than nine points, and when the Scots went on another 16-4 burst the lead grew to 21 points at 79-58 with 2:19 to play.  Johnathan Logan hit a pair of 3-pointers and Theriot added five points. Theriot led all scorers with 19 points.  The 6'9" junior made 6 of 12 field goals and was 7 of 7 from the line.  He added 11 rebounds. Jay Fletcher added 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half.  The senior guard knocked down 4 of 9 3-pointers , adding five assists and three steals.  Xavier Churnac made 6 of 7 field goals to total 12 points, adding five rebounds.  Prince once again filled up the box score with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Corey Bellovich led Clarion with 13 points, followed by Marques Jones with 12. Mike Kromka and Anthony Baker added 11 markers each.
 
 
 
LAST GAME'S STARTERS

Edinboro	Clarion
#2 Henri Wade-Chatman (G, 6-2, So.)	#3 BJ Andrews (G, 6-4, Fr.)
#3 Will Marrow (G, 6-4, R-So.)	#5 Marques Jones (G, 5-10, Jr.)
#5 Alex Moore  (F, 6-4, Sr.)	#12 Mike Kromka (F, 6-6, Sr.)
#21 Xavier Churnac  (F, 6-5, Sr.)	#23 DeMarius Miller (G, 6-2, Jr.)
#55 Bryan Theriot (C, 6-9, Sr)	#31 Aaron Johnson  (F, 6-4, So.)

HEAD COACHES
Edinboro: Pat Cleary (Edinboro '99)
Record at Edinboro: 7-10, 1st year
Career Record: 7-10, 1st year

Pat Cleary (Edinboro '99) is in his first year as head coach of the Fighting Scots, taking over for his predecessor Greg Walcavich, who spent 24 years at the helm of the Edinboro program. Cleary previously worked as an assistant under Walcavich for 16 years, first as a student aide before becoming a full-time assistant coach. He is credited for recruiting many of Edinboro's top contributors in recent years. The first-year head coach takes over a team that finished 18-10 a year ago and reached the PSAC Tournament Semifinals. Cleary has led the Fighting Scots to a 7-10 record so far this season.

Clarion: Ron Righter (St. Joseph's  '75)
Record at Clarion: 400-291, (26th year)
Career Record: 424-315, (28th year)

Ron Righter (St. Joseph's  '75) is in his 26th season as the head coach at Clarion, showing a 400-291 ledger during that period. The all-time leader in coaching victories at Clarion, he recently earned his 400th coaching triumph at Clarion in the Golden Eagle's 64-61 win over Seton Hill on January 18. Since taking over the Clarion program in 1988­-89 he has guided the Golden Eagles to 17 seasons of at least 15 wins and three 20-­win campaigns. Clarion won the PSAC West in 1997, 2000 and 2005 under his guidance, along with the PSAC championship in 2001. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 1997 and again in 2005. Clarion experienced a down year last season, posting a record of 6-20. Righter's coaching back­ground includes assistant coaching stints at Washington State, Iowa and USC, along with Lafayette and Lehigh. He also served as the head coach at Wilkes for two years, posting a 24­-24 record to give him a career record of 420­-302 in 27 years. In the Summer of 1988, Righter was one of eight assistants helping U.S. Olympic coach John Thompson narrow the 1988 U.S. Olympic team at Colorado Springs, CO.
 
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Edinboro
Bryan Theriot (C, 6-9, Sr.) – earned first team All-PSAC West accolades a year ago after averaging 18.1 ppg. and 8.9 rpg. Was named a preseason All-PSAC choice. Shot 55.4 percent from the floor and 87.2 percent at the line. He was named the PSAC West Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending January 12, after averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in two contests. He posted his fourth double-double of the season and 22nd of his career with a 25-point, 10-rebound performance to lead Edinboro past visiting Shippensburg. He leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points per contest, also ranks sixth in scoring average in the PSAC. He is fifth in the league in rebounding average at 8.1 boards per game, and second in the conference in field goal percentage at 60.1 percent (104 of 173). The senior ranks 15th in school history with 1,209 career points and 19th with 603 career rebounds. He also sits at second all-time in career field goal percentage, shooting 59.1 percent from the field for his career (424 of 718).
 
Jonny Marsh (G, 6-0, Jr.)  – is a first-year player for the Fighting Scots after transferring from Niagara County Comm. College. Earned PSAC West Player of the Week honors after posting back-to-back 30-plus point games earlier this season. The junior poured in a season-high 34 points in Edinboro's win at Urbana on Nov. 18, before recording 30 markers in the Scots' loss at Pitt-Johnstown on Nov. 23. Marsh leads the PSAC in 3-pt. field goal percentage at 41.3  percent (43 of 104) and is second in the conference in 3-pt. field goals made per game with 2.5.The Bronx, NY native is fourth in the league averaging 3.8 assists per contest. He also ranks ninth in the PSAC in scoring average at 16.5 points per contest.


Clarion
#23 DeMarius Miller (G, 6-2, Jr.) Miller is the Golden Eagles' leading scorer and ranks tenth in the PSAC, hitting at 16.5 points per game. He sits 17th in the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 38.8 percent from the field for the season. A Morton College transfer, he led the NJCAA in scoring in 2011-12 at 27.6 points per contest. He dropped in a career-high 42 points on 13 of 20 shooting against Penn State Beaver earlier this season, tying the fifth-most points in a game by a Clarion player.
 
 
#12 Mike Kromka (F, 6-6, Sr.) – A preseason All-PSAC West selection, Kromka leads the team and ranks third in the PSAC in rebounding (8.6 rpg.). He is also the Golden Eagles's second-leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. Kromka is 15th in the conference in blocked shots, averaging 1.2 blocks per contest. The 6'6'' senior has posted four double-doubles this season, the best coming in a 17-point, 20-rebound effort in the first game of the season against Penn State DuBois. He scored a season-high 19 points in a loss at Lock Haven on December 21.
 
 
THE GAME STORIES
• Edinboro remains in search of its first conference victory of the 2013-14 campaign following a 69-66 defeat against #15 Indiana (Pa.) on Wednesday night. That left the Fighting Scots at 0-7 in the PSAC West and 7-10 overall. Edinboro is looking to avoid its first 0-8 start in PSAC play since the 1955-56 season. The 1959-60 Fighting Scots also lost their first seven contests in the conference before defeating Clarion 80-66. The Golden Eagles come into the game with a 3-12 overall mark and a 1-6 ledger in PSAC West action. Their lone conference victory came against Seton Hill last Saturday.
 
•The Fighting Scots suffered another close loss to IUP, the fourth straight game between the teams that Edinboro has taken the Crimson Hawks down to the wire. IUP defeated Edinboro in all three meetings last season, needing overtime in two games to claim victories. The other game also came down to the final minutes. 
 
•Edinboro enters the game against Clarion following a very difficult four-game stretch. Starting with Slippery Rock, the Scots faced the four best scoring defenses in the PSAC in a row, three of which rank in the top six in Division II. Mercyhurst came into last Wednesday's matchup as the sixth-ranked scoring defense in the country at 61.3 ppg. Gannon entered the game against Edinboro as the fourth-best scoring defense in Division II at 60.6 ppg, while IUP entered the last game as the top-ranked scoring defense in the country and the PSAC at 57.4 ppg. Slippery Rock, who the Scots faced on January 11, ranks fourth in the conference, limiting opponents to an average of 64.8 points per game at the time. IUP also ranked fifth in Division II, but second in the PSAC, in opponent field goal percentage at 37.9 percent, while Slippery Rock paces the conference and ranks third in the country at 36.6 percent.
 
• Clarion ranks 16th in the conference in both scoring defense and field goal percent defense, as opponents are scoring 75.3 points per game  and shooting 44.3 percent against the Eagles.
• Edinboro is currently on a four-game losing streak, its longest of the season. The last time the Fighting Scots lost four straight games was during the 2011-12 campaign. Edinboro has not lost five games in a row since 2010-11.
 
• The Fighting Scots were picked to finish eighth in the Western Division while the Golden Eagles were picked to finish ninth the PSAC West in the conference preseason poll. At this point in the season, the two predictions are flip-flopped, as Edinboro sits in ninth place in the division, while Clarion  is currently in eighth place in the division with a 1-6 record in conference play.

 
NEXT FOR THE FIGHTING SCOTS
Saturday, February 1 vs. Pitt-Johnstown – 3:00 p.m.