MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – In a must have game to make the 2017 Peach Belt Conference Tournament, Clayton State (15-12, 10-8 PBC) went 10 rounds with Georgia College (15-12, 9-9 PBC) to earn a critical 69-65 victory in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, February 18.
 
Graduate forward Jaumonee Byrd (Douglasville, Ga.) delivered his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, four of which were offensive while junior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 14 points, seven assists, four boards and a pair of steals.
 
Junior guard Dantez Bennamon (Goose Creek, S.C.) added 13 points as the only other double-figure scorer while redshirt-senior forward Alfonso Davis (Bronx, N.Y.) hauled in 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Freshman guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) and senior guard Maurice White (Baltimore, Md.) would each chip in with eight points to round out the top performances.
 
The teams would be separated by no more than three points over the first 11:53 as GC took a narrow 15-14 lead. That margin would expand to 20-14 by the 8:22 mark before three straight free throws by Scott cut the deficit in half.
 
From there, the Bobcats used an 8-2 run to stretch their lead to 28-19 with 5:25 left in the first half before Clayton State put together a 12-3 burst to tie things up at 31-31 with five seconds remaining. Georgia College would get the ball into the front court in a hurry and Mark McCorkle knocked down a three at the buzzer to send them to the half with a 34-31 lead.
 
Following a pair of free throws by GC to start the second half the Lakers would find their rhythm as they put together a 20-8 run to pull ahead 53-45 by the 7:01 mark. A 7-2 stretch by the Bobcats over the next 2:19 then narrowed the gap to 55-52.
 
A pair of free throws stemmed the tide and pushed the lead back to five but Georgia College would not go away. They would stay within that margin until Clayton State went up 62-55 behind three free throws before the Bobcats cut it to 62-58 with 49 seconds to play. At that point Davis would hit White on a baseball pass for an easy fast break dunk to stretch it to six.
 
Following that play, however, GC nearly got the miracle they were looking for. Garrick DeBowles drove to the hole for a bucket and Kohl Roberts then stole the inbounds and raced to the basket for a second straight basket. On that play he drew a foul and converted the ensuing free throw to cut it to 64-63.
 
On the other end, Clayton State missed a layup but Byrd was there to grab the board and was promptly fouled. He would hit the first and miss the second but Powell would haul in a high arcing rebound to maintain possession. Not only that, the Bobcats would lose Isaac Thomas to his fifth foul on the play and Powell would knock down a pair of freebies for a 67-63 lead with 18 seconds to play.
 
After a missed three, offensive board and turnover at the other end, the Lakers would get called for a five second violation on the inbound to give it right back to Georgia College with eight seconds left.
 
They would capitalize with a Brice Booker layup three seconds later but Bennamon would drain a pair of key free throws on the ensuing foul to make it a four point game. The Bobcats could do very little other than try and create a foul on a three-pointer on their last ditch effort that was off the mark and sealed the critical 69-65 decision.
 
Roberts put up a monster game with 19 points on 11-of-14 shooting and 14 rebounds to lead Georgia College and Thomas finished with 12 points and six boards. Chaz Berry, who the Bobcats lost to foul trouble with 11:30 to play, added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. McCorkle chipped in with eight points and Austin Dukes had four points, four caroms, four assists and a pair of blocks.
 
As a team, Clayton State shot an uncharacteristic .786 from the foul line, going 22-of-28, while GC hit 21-of-33 for a .636 mark.
 
With the win, the Lakers are now 10-8 in the conference and currently in third in the PBC West Division standings. They take that spot over Columbus State due to their season sweep but the issue is far from decided. Six of the seven teams in the division still have a chance to make the field and Clayton State could seemingly go from winning the division to being out of the tournament entirely.
 
The Lakers close out the regular season on Wednesday, February 22 when they host PBC West Division power Montevallo on Senior Day. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's contest.
 
NOTES
Games of import for Clayton State's bid for a PBC Tournament berth: On Monday, February 20 - Lander at Young Harris, on Wednesday, February 22 – North Georgia at Young Harris, Georgia Southwestern at Columbus State, Georgia College at Lander and Montevallo at the Lakers.