Lakers fall 58-54 to Webber Thursday
| 2nd - 00:00 | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webber Int'l (4-4) | 26 | 32 | 58 |
| Clayton St. (4-3) | 27 | 27 | 54 |
| Morrow, GA | |||
| Webber Int'l | Clayton St. |
|---|---|
| Pts: Brian Pace - 18 | Pts: Omari Murray - 16 |
| Reb: Gabriel Rutledge - 12 | Reb: Omari Murray - 12 |
| Ast: Michael Bonilla - 5 | Ast: Tony Dukes - 4 |
| Team Statistics | Webber Int'l | Clayton St. |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goal % | 32.1% (17-53 ) | 34.4% (21-61 ) |
| Rebounds | 42 | 40 |
| Assists | 12 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 20 | 19 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 13 | 10 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 10 |
| Pts in the Paint | 16 | 34 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 0 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 14 | 12 |
Morrow, GA – The Clayton State men's basketball team dropped a tough one Thursday, falling 58-54 to non-conference opponent Webber at the Athletics & Fitness Center.
Leading 50-44 with 5:55 remaining, Clayton State went cold offensively, scoring only four points to close the game.
Webber's Johnson Mesidor cut the Laker lead to a single point, 52-51, on a three pointer with 2:55 remaining. The Warriors' Jakeem Hill then gave the team a 1-point advantage, 53-52, with a layup with 1:10 left.
After a Laker miss and foul, Hill drained two free throws to give team a 55-52 lead with 30 seconds left, followed by another free throw to give the team a 56-52 advantage.
Clayton State answered with a basket by forward Omari Murray to cut the lead two a single basket with three seconds remaining, but Webber's Mesidor drained two more free throws to seal the victory.
With the loss, Clayton State drops to 4-3 on the season. The squad will open its Peach Belt Conference schedule on Saturday, traveling to face Georgia Southwestern in a 3:30 p.m. contest. The Lakers will return to the Athletics & Fitness Center on Monday to open their PBC home schedule against Columbus State. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
Clayton State led 27-26 at halftime and the largest lead of the game was seven points with both teams holding a seven-point advantage in the second half. Trailing 43-36 with 10:11 remaining, the Lakers went on 14-0 run over a four-minute stretch to take their seven point advantage, 50-43, with 6:08 left. Guards Zach Riddle and Craig Wong each had 3-pointers in the stretch.
Murray led the Laker attack with his fifth "double-double" of the season, scoring 16 points and pulling 12 boards. He also came one steal away from recording a "triple -double" as he finished with nine steals. Laker center Tim Budd also recorded a "double-double" with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Juron Dobbs chipped in eight points and had seven rebounds.
For Webber, guard Brian Pace finished with a game-high 18 points, followed by Mesidor's 14 points. Hill chipped in 11 to go along with nine rebounds.
Neither team shot well from the field as the Lakers hit 34 percent (21-of-61) and Webber hit 17-of-53 shots. Webber made 16-of-20 free throws and 8-of-22 from 3-point range, while the Lakers hit 10-of-15 from the line and 2-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc.
