JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Taking on a traditionally strong Southeast Region foe, Clayton State (3-1, 0-0 PBC) hung with Carson-Newman (3-3, 0-0 SAC) into the second half before falling by an 83-66 score in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, December 2.
 
Junior center Darrius Moore (Memphis, Tenn.) led the way with a career-high 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting while sophomore guard Dantez Bennamon (Goose Creek, S.C.) finished with 11 points. Redshirt-freshman guard Marquise Clark (Miami, Fla.) and junior guard Maurice White (Baltimore, Md.) contributed nine and eight points, respectively, and senior center Richard Bell (West Sussex, England) hauled in a team-best six boards.
 
Neither team would be able to gain a firm advantage over the first 7:51 as they were separated by no more than five points over that time. That would change as CNU, holding a narrow 18-17 advantage, used a 6-0 run to extend to a 24-17 margin by the 9:17 mark.
 
A triple by senior guard SirDarius Henry (Atlanta, Ga.) broke that stretch, but only slightly as the Eagles continued to ramp up their offense as they pulled out to a 37-24 lead with 3:04 to play. The Lakers, however, survived what would be an overall run of 19-7 and answer with seven of the next 10 points, five of which came from Bennamon, to head to the half trailing just 40-31.
 
Clayton State would close to within 51-43 by the 13:36 mark of the second half but it would be all Carson-Newman from there on. Over the next nearly 10 minutes, they produced a 26-13 run to take a 77-56 lead by the 3:46 mark to put the game out of reach before eventually closing out the 17-point victory.
 
Carson Brooks finished with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with seven boards for the Eagles and Mason Bates added a solid all-around game of 12 points, six boards and five assists. Charles Clark made his mark at the foul line, going 8-of-8, on his way to 11 points while Josh Rogers also came away with 11 points. Sawyer Williams chipped in with nine points and six rebounds and Zack Pangallo added seven points and a game-high tying five assists to round out the top performers.
 
The Lakers are back in action this weekend when they travel to Erskine on Saturday, December 5. Game time is set for 4 p.m. in Due West, S.C.
 
NOTES
This was just the second meeting between the two programs … Clayton State won at The Loch last season, 62-58, a year ago to the day.