CLINTON - It seemed like a perfect night for the Clinton faithful heading into the fourth quarter of the Senior Night tilt between Central A&M and the Maroons Friday night.

Three Clinton sports legends were inducted into the Wall of Honor, five seniors were honored for their contributions to Maroon basketball and one inspired Maroons team was about to defeat one of the Okaw Valley’s finest teams.

But Central A&M picked a convenient time to get hot.

Trailing by eight (44-36) at the end of the third, the Red Raiders outscored Clinton 27-13 in the final quarter, taking the lead (54-53) at the 2:23 mark and never looking back.

A Josh Wilson layup brought the Maroons back to within one (58-57), but a 5-0 CAM run closed things out.

Alex Keeling had 14 points to lead Central A&M, who won the conference regular season finale.

The Maroons trailed 15-12 at the end of one, but outscored the Red Raiders 18-8 in the second. Six points in the final minute not only gave them a seven-point lead, but momentum too.

The momentum continued early in the second half as a three by Aaron Ennis and a jump shot from Colton Nixon gave the Maroons their biggest lead of the night at 35-23.

From that point on, CAM outscored Clinton, 40-22.

Wilson had 15 points to lead Clinton in the losing effort. Ennis had 14, while CJ Bundy added eight.

Bundy was in the Clinton starting lineup with the other four seniors on the team’s roster, Eric Barber, Alex Jette, David Alwood and Cole Szymkiewicz.

All five seniors were honored prior to the start of the game and after the Wall of Honor inductions.

The Maroons will begin the IHSA Class 2A Stanford Regional Wednesday night with a 6 p.m. tilt against regional host Olympia High School.