Clarion, Pa. – Steve Kelly hit a pull up jumper from the elbow with 7.6 on the clock to give the Scots a 59-58 lead and the Edinboro men's basketball team held on for a 60-58 victory in their PSAC West opener Friday night at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
Cam Kearney gave the Golden Eagles the lead, 54-52, with a layup at the 2:57 mark of the second half. Ryan Ladjevich gave Edinboro the lead with a 3-pointer with 2:17 to play. With 1:28 on the clock, Jeremy Thomas II put Clarion ahead 56-55. Cenker Evran answered with a pair of free throws to put the Scots back ahead 57-56.
 
Kearney connected on a pair of free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 58-57 advantage with 22 seconds to play. After an Edinboro timeout, Kelly took the inbounds and hit jumper that gave the Scots the lead for good. Evran was called for a foul, but Thomas missed the front end of the one-and-one and Evan Berger secured the rebound. Thomas fouled Berger who made the front end of the free throws setting the final.
 
With 18:05 on the clock in the second half, Thomas hit a free throw to pull Clarion within two, 33-31. Edinboro went on a 13-2 run capped by a Kelly layup at the 11:28 mark to put the Scots ahead 46-33. Josiah Dow hit a 3-pointer to stop the run and trim the lead to 46-36, but the Scots scored the next five points on a Berger trey and pair of Bryce Baez free throws to go ahead 51-36 at the 9:35 mark.
 
Clarion answered with 16 straight points to take a 52-51 lead on a Justice Easter bucket at the 5:23 mark of the second half.
 
The Golden Eagles grabbed a 9-7 lead at the 15:11 mark of the first half on a pair of Kearney free throws. Berger hit a jumper and Evran scored the next four points to put the Scots ahead 13-9 with 12:38 left in the first. Kearney scored the next four points for the Golden Eagles to knot the score at 13.
 
Daunte Wilcott scored the next eight points on a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to put the Scots ahead 21-13 with 10:06 on the clock. Clarion answered with an 11-1 run to take a 24-22 lead with 4:22 remaining.
 
Evran tied the scored with a layup at the 3:12 mark and Ladjevich gave the Scots the lead, 27-24, with a 3-pointer at the 2:49 mark. The Scot lead grew to 30-26 with 1:51 to play in the first. Clarion closed the half on a 4-1 run to cut the halftime deficit to 31-30.
 
Evran paced Edinboro with his ninth double-double of the season notching 15 points and 10 rebounds. Berger added 13 points, three rebounds and two steals. Ladjevich and Wilcott each tallied nine points.
 
Kearney led the Golden Eagles with 18 points to go with six rebounds. Thomas added 11 points and eight boards.
 
The Scots return to action on Monday when they host IUP at 3 p.m. inside McComb Fieldhouse.