TYRONE — The last time the Clearfield Bison were on a basketball court was one week ago. A pair of postponements meant that competition has changed, but the desire remained. After a week of waiting, the squad hit the road and the hardwood on Friday night for some Mountain League competition against the Tyrone Golden Eagles.
The two squads kept things interesting in the first 16 minutes as they would remain close, with no clear favorite taking shape. But, the Golden Eagles utilized an enormous second-half offensive surge, along with some tough defense, to hand Clearfield a devastating 62-35 loss.
Neither team impressed from the opening tip, as the two squads combined for just 16 points in the first quarter. Clearfield found itself in an early hole but pulled even with Tyrone in the second quarter to take a slim one-point advantage into the locker room, 19-18.
After that, the Golden Eagles seemed to soar, and the Bison had no answer.
Tyrone exploded in the second half with 45 points, as six of the nine Golden Eagles that saw time in the second half put up points. Brandon Lucas led everyone in scoring with 14 points, all of which came in the final 16 minutes, while Landen DeHaas added in another 12, and Jake Taylor accounted for 11.
Meanwhile, Clerarfield found itself flat-footed and facing a tough defense, as they could only put up 17 points, only making six field goals in the second half and only 13 for the game. Cole Miller was the lone Bison to eclipse double figures with 12 points.
There is not much time for Clearfield (6-3) to recover, as they have a rather unique schedule in order to make up some of the early-season postponements due to COVID restrictions. By unique, that means Clearfield is suiting up on Saturday. Not only are they suiting up on Saturday, but they are doing so twice in one day. For the first time since Nate Glunt took the reins as head coach, the Bison will have a double-header on the hardwood inside the Bison Gymnasium.
To start, the Bison will first host the Curwensville Golden Tide at 11 a.m. The Tide were to travel to Clearfield in December, making this the first time the two squads will meet up in the 2021 season. After some time to recuperate, and refocus from game one, the Bison will return to the court at 4 p.m. for a Mountain League contest against the Central Dragons. Central faced Clearfield on January 22, defeating Clearfield 54-48.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 6 12 5 12 – 35
Tyrone 10 7 20 25 – 62
CLEARFIELD – 35
Karson Rumsky 1 0-0 3, Luke Winters 3 0-0 6, Matt Pallo 2 0-0 5, Nick Ryan 0 0-0 0, Cole Miller 5 1-2 12, Ryan Gearhart 1 4-4 7, Jake Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Curvey Parkett 1 0-0 2, Morgan Billotte 0 0-0 0, Isakk Way 0 0-0 0, Andon Greslick 0 0-0 0, Nasheed Thompson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13 5-8 35.
TYRONE – 62
Jake Taylor 5 0-0 11, Blaine Hoover 2 2-2 6, Damon Gripp 2 2-3 6, Brandon Lucas 5 3-4 14, Cortlynd Rhoades 1 0-0 2, David Lang 3 0-0 9, Landen DeHaas 4 4-5 12, Ross Gampe 1 0-1 2, Zac LeGars 0 0-0 0, Jacob Johnson 0 0-0 0, Keegan Gwinn 0 0-0 0, Brady Ronan 0 0-0 0, Dravyn Crowell 0 0-0 0, Christian Imler 0 0-0 0, Connor Walters 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 11-17 62.
