MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – In a game that could well decide their postseason fate, Clayton State (14-10, 9-8 PBC) could not overcome a much improved Georgia College (18-8, 11-6 PBC) squad as they fell 73-61 in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 17.
Sophomore guard
Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) produced 15 points and eight rebounds to pace the Lakers while junior forward
Alfonso Davis (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard
Saiquan Terry (Manchester, Ga.) added 13 points and senior forward
Takija Knight (Crawfordville, Fla.) chipped in with six points and eight boards.
The Bobcats would take the early 8-3 lead before Clayton State tied it at 8-8, the beginning of a series of three lead changes and three ties over the next 3:43. Deadlocked at 18-18, both teams would go scoreless for more than a minute and a half.
Out of that drought, GC would emerge with an 8-2 burst for a 26-20 lead by the 7:31 mark. The Lakers would then respond with eight straight points of their own to flip the script and take a 28-26 lead. From there, the Bobcats would put together a 14-2 run over a span of 5:25 to retake the lead at 40-30 before Terry knocked down a jumper with nine tenths of a second on the clock to snap the streak and send the teams to the locker room with the score at 40-32.
Georgia College opened the second half by scoring 10 of the first 15 points to extend to a 50-37 margin by the under 16-minute media timeout. That lead would grow to a game-high 17 points at 55-38 by the 14:17 mark and remain a double-digit advantage the rest of the way as the Bobcats closed out the 73-61 victory.
Terrell Harris, the Peach Belt Conference leading scorer, finished with a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds and Dwight Anderson had 18 points. Kelvin Nwanze added nine points and Chaz Berry and Ryan Blumenthal each had eight points.
The Lakers return to The Loch on Saturday, February 20 when they host Young Harris as part of Homecoming festivities. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's game.
