SLIPPERY ROCK — After playing catch-up for most of the game, Slippery Rock University women's basketball coach Laurel Heilman said she believed the complexity of the game would change if her team took the lead.

As it turned out, it didn't.

After trailing by nine points late in the first half, The Rock trimmed the deficit to one point on three different occasions, only to see the Golden Eagles increase the margin.

SRU took a 37-36 lead with 13:04 remaining, but Clarion followed with a 10-2 run to send the squad on its way to a key 63-62 PSAC West victory.

""I thought once we got the lead it would still be a battle, but I thought our team would settle down," said Heilman.

"We finally started to play like we practice," said Clarion coach Gie Parsons. "We've had good practices. We're not just bringing it to the games."

SRU (8-12, 2-4) led 14-13 before the Eagles got a pair of 3-pointers from Katrina Greer, sandwiched around a My'Kea Cohill basket, for a 21-14 lead with 2:43 left in the first half.

The Eagles (7-13, 2-4) bumped the lead to 25-16 before SRU's Dana Stewart scored a pair of baskets in the final 18 seconds to trim the deficit to 25-20 at the break.

That spark helped SRU slip back into the game.

Trailing 36-32, Nikki Presto drained a 3-pointer and Amanda Nero had a running layup to give The Rock its one-point lead.

However, Cohill had a basket, a 3-pointer and two foul shot to spark the 10-2 run and to open a 46-39 lead.

It was SRU's turn to make a spurt, rolling off eight of the next nine points to tie the game at 47.

But Greer quickly hit a pair of free throws and April Gratton scored in a 26-second span to give Clarion a 51-47 lead.

From there, SRU cut the margin to one point four more times, the final time on a 3-point buzzer beater by Nero to close out the scoring.

Greer led all scorers with 18 points, while teammates Jessica Albanese added 15 and Cohill had 12 points and seven rebounds.

SRU got 12 points each from Nero and Jessica Schake, and 11 points from Nijha McNeely. Schake added seven rebounds.

Men's Basketball Clarion 70, SRU57

The Eagles connected on 11 of 12 free throws over the final 1:48 to pull away for the win.

Clarion (7-12, 2-4) led 55-51 with 5:08 remaining before a pair of Bobby Franklin baskets kick-started a 9-0 run to open a 59-51 lead with 2:59 left. He also sank all four free throws he attempted in the run.

For the game, the Eagles hit on 17 of 20 free throws; the Rock 5-of-13.

"That is a rarity, and we've been working so hard on that," said Clarion coach Ron Righter. "Year in and year out we've been good, but not too well this year."

"That took the wind out of us," said Slippery Rock coach Jamal Palmer. "We felt we were the better team, especially with (an injured Chris) Buchanan out of the game. We thought we could get the ball inside."

The Rock (4-17, 1-5) trailed 33-32 at halftime but came out scoring the first six points and surged to a 38-33 lead.

However, the Eagles countered with consecutive 3-pointers by Justin Collins and Josh Yanke and another score by Yanke to take a 41-38 lead.

The teams exchanged the lead four times, the last time when Leon Kennedy hit consecutive buckets to give Clarion a 49-46 advantage, a lead it would not relinquish.

Clarion received 18 points from Kennedy, 16 from Franklin and 11 points and nine rebounds from Yanke.

SRU had 11 points and nine rebounds from Glenn Reepmeyer and nine points each from Jamar Scales, Joseph Vines and Erroll Robinson.

Women's BoxCLARION 63My'Kea Cohill 4-11 3-4 12, Ashley Grimm 1-5 2-2 5, Jessica Albanese 7-11 1-2 15, Katrina Greer 5-11 5-6 18, April Gratton 4-7 1-2 9, Jessica Skeggs 0-0 0-0 0, Bethany Koch 0-0 0-0 0, Leah Shrift 0-1 0-0 0, Sara Pratt 1-1 2-4 4, Janelle Zabresky 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Stover 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 22-47 14-20 63.

SLIPPERY ROCK 62Amanda Nero 5-8 0-0 12, Nikki Presto 3-8 0-0 7, Jessica Schake 3-6 5-8 12, Chere Marshall 2-12 3-3 7, Nijha McNeely 5-8 1-1 11, Kara Spagnola 0-0 0-0 0, Alissa Schake 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Chojnacki 1-2 3-4 5, Haley Gaidosh 0-1 0-0 0, Dana Stewart 4-5 0-0 8, Amanda Kaufman 0-2 0-0 0, KellyAnn Staudinger 0-2 0-0 0.

Totals: 23-55 12-16 62.Halftime score:Clarion, 25-20;

3-point shooting:Clarion 5-13 (Greer 3-7, Cohill 1-2, Grimm 1-2, Albanese 0-1, Shrift 0-1), SRU4-10 (Nero 2-4, J. Schake 1-1, Presto 1-4, Marshall 0-1);

Rebounds:Clarion 29 (Cohill 7), SRU38 (J. Schake 7);

Assists: Clarion 15 (Grimm 7), SRU 9 (Presto 3);

Fouled out:None;

Technical fouls:None

Men's BoxCLARION 70Lonnell Jones 1-5 1-2 3, Demetrius Graham 0-3 1-2 1, Leon Kennedy 7-15 4-5 18, Bobby Franklin 4-11 8-8 16, Josh Yanke 5-9 0-0 11, Frank Torbert 2-4 2-2 7, Brent Nelson 2-3 0-0 4, Justin Collins 1-3 0-0 3, Lamar Richburg 3-3 1-1 7, Raymond Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Buchanan 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25-56 17-20 70.

SLIPPERY ROCK 57Matt Schaefer 1-12 0-0 2, Jamar Scales 4-8 0-0 9, Kenny Smith 3-9 0-0 8, Joseph Vines 4-7 1-1 9, Glenn Reepmeyer 5-8 1-5 11, Brian Campuzano 0-0 0-0 0, Rashiid Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Thompson 2-4 0-0 5, David White 2-2 0-0 4, Joe Marzullo 0-1 0-0 0, Erroll Robinson 3-5 3-7 9. Totals: 24-57 5-13 57.

Halftime score:Clarion, 70-57;

3-point shooting:Clarion 3-10 (Yanke 1-2, Torbert 1-2, Collins 1-3, Jones 0-1, Kennedy 0-1, Franklin 0-1), SRU4-24 (Smith 2-7, Scales 1-2, Thompson 1-3, Coleman 0-1, Marzullo 0-1, Robinson 0-2, Schaefer 0-8);

Rebounds:Clarion 38 (Yanke 9), SRU37 (Reepmeyer 9);

Assists:Clarion 8 (Graham 3), SRU 12 (Smith 3);

Fouled out:Scales (SRU);

Technical fouls:Franklin (Clarion)