ERIE, Pa. -- Damon Jones led all scorers with 26 points as the Mercyhurst men's basketball team handled Clarion for an 82-69 win in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition on Saturday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.

Sean Beins added 16 points and Kayode Ajenifuja put in 14 as the Lakers (7-4, 5-3) held off a late charge by the visiting Golden Eagles (7-6, 5-3).

Cameron Gumley scored 15 points for Clarion while Larry Johnson Jr. and De'Ondre Terrell put in 12 apiece.

The host Lakers opened the game on a six-point run on their way to an early 14-2 lead. They twice led by 17 in the first half before taking a 43-26 advantage into intermission.

A layup by H'ian Hale gave Mercyhurst its biggest lead of the contest -- 54-32 -- with 14:47 remaining before Clarion charged back.

A Johnson layup with 7:45 left in the second half closed the Golden Eagles' deficit to 61-56, but that was as close as the visitors would get. Mercyhurst then went on a 10-0 streak, getting five points from Jones, to put the contest out of reach.

The Lakers finished 31 of 55 from the field (56.4 percent) while Clarion went 21 of 50 (42.0 percent). The rebounding battle was even at 32-32.

Mercyhurst will be in action again on Sunday with a 3 p.m. non-conference home game against Salem International.