Kameron Taylor has a knack for hitting clutch shots in Edinboro’s McComb Fieldhouse.
Two seasons ago at Edinboro, Taylor hit a jumper from the free-throw line at the buzzer to give the Griffins a 95-93 over the Fighting Scots. On Saturday afternoon, history repeated itself. This time, Taylor hit a game-winning jumper with a second to go to put the Griffins on the brink of returning to the PSAC playoffs with a 76-74 road win. While it was not at the buzzer, the result was the same.
Edinboro controlled the majority of the first half and started strong in the second half to potentially set up a non-stressful second half. Seton Hill (12-13, 10-11) struck back by taking the lead with just under 10 minutes left to only see it slip away three minutes later and fall behind by five points. However, Edinboro (14-10, 13-8) could not put away the Griffins, allowing Taylor plus Noah Davis to catch fire and set the Griffins up with a 74-71 lead with 17 seconds left.
The Fighting Scots Henri-Wade Chatman quickly stormed down the court and rifled off a 3-pointer to tie the game at 74 with 14.9 seconds left, which set up Taylor’s heroics. Taylor finished with 23 points only second to Davis who had a team-high 26. Wade-Chatman led all scorers with 32 points on his Senior Day.
Seton Hill now either needs to beat top-seed IUP on Wednesday at home or, have Slippery Rock lose to UPJ to make the PSAC playoffs. The heart-breaking loss prevents Edinboro from getting a first-round bye, but they can still secure third place with a win on the road Wednesday at California.
Pitt-Johnstown 67 Clarion 65: A back-and-forth contest saw Nate Snodgrass hit a game-winning jump-shot with five seconds left to lock up a second-straight playoff berth for the Mountain Cats. Clarion led by as many as 15 in the first half, but UPJ (16-10, 12-9) eventually clawed back to tie the game going into halftime mostly thanks to a 16-3 run. Both teams continued to trade blows in the second half with no lead ever getting larger than six points. The big difference eventually came down to Clarion’s 17 turnovers and being out-rebounded 41-34 by the Mountain Cats. A.J. Leahey led all scorers with 25 points including five three-pointers, four of which came in the first half.
Clarion (13-13, 10-12) received valiant efforts from its seniors after they were honored pre-game. Andre’ Anthony led the team with 21 points and was complimented by 14 points from Rob Agurs. With a playoff berth and first-round home game locked up, UPJ can improve their final spot in the standings with a win Wednesday at home against Slippery Rock, and an Edinboro loss to California. With Clarion’s regular season complete, all Golden Eagle fans will turn their eyes to the Slippery Rock/UPJ and IUP/Seton Hill games on Wednesday, hoping the Mountain Cats or Crimson Hawks can win to put them in the playoffs.
Slippery Rock 65 Gannon 57: Cornelius Brown once again put The Rock on his back, scoring 33 points and 15 rebounds, and led his team to a 65-57 win over Gannon. The numbers Brown has put up in the last five games has been ridiculous. Over those games, Brown has averaged 24.2 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Slippery Rock (15-12, 10-11) went wire to wire against the Golden Knights, using a suffocating defense to hold them to 30.8 percent from the field. This was Slippery Rock’s first ever regular season win against Gannon. The Golden Knights (15-12, 10-11) were led by a career-high 19 points from freshman Ian Gardener, and will finish their season at home against crosstown-rival Mercyhurst on Wednesday night. Slippery Rock must win on Wednesday night on the road against UPJ to make the PSAC playoffs for the sixth straight season.
Mercyhurst 65 California 38: The Lakers came out of the gates hot and easily defeated California by a score of 65-38. Mercyhurst (17-8, 14-7) jumped out to a 20-point lead at halftime, shooting 52 percent in the first half while draining seven three-pointers. Three Laker seniors scored in double digits on their senior day, led by 15 points from Damon Jones. Edinboro’s loss to Seton Hill wraps up a first-round bye for the Lakers, who will wrap up the regular season across town against Gannon Wednesday night. Nate Bellhy and Daniel Sapp led the Vulcans (7-20, 4-17) with 10 points each, and will face Edinboro at home on Wednesday in head coach Bill Brown’s final game.
