COLUMBUS, Ga. – Senior guard Maurice White (Baltimore, Md.) lit it up for a career-high 25 points and Clayton State (13-11, 8-7 PBC) came away with their largest victory over rival Columbus State (16-7, 9-7 PBC), 100-70, in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 8.
 
The win is the Lakers largest ever over the Cougars, surpassing a pair of 19 point victories from the 2010-11 and 2006-07 seasons. It is the second largest margin by either team, surpassed only by a 92-61 decision by Columbus in the first meeting on February 17, 1996. The victory also marks the first season sweep of their rival since the 1999-2000 campaign and is only the third all-time.
 
White erupted for 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting and added five rebounds and a pair of steals while redshirt-senior forward Alfonso Davis (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with 19 points, nine boards and four steals. Junior guard Dantez Bennamon (Goose Creek, S.C.) wasn't far behind, going a perfect 7-of-7 for 18 points
 
Junior guard Kendall Joseph (Snellville, Ga.) dropped 13 points, all in the second half and freshman guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 12 points and five assists. Sophomore forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) chipped in with eight caroms, five of which came off of the offensive glass.
 
Trailing 12-11 just 3:53 into the game, the Lakers would put together an impressive 11-0 run to take a 22-12 lead by the 12:55 mark. Over the next six-plus minutes, however, the Cougars would come charging back with a 19-8 run to retake the lead, 31-30, with 6:22 remaining in the half.
 
An 11-0 burst by Clayton State, fueled by seven points from Bennamon and four from White, quelled that run and flipped the script back to a 41-31 lead by the 2:40 mark. They would make it an overall run of 17-2 as Bennamon drained a straight away three-pointer to close the half and make it a 47-33 margin at the break.
 
That stretch would continue in the second half as the Lakers scored 16 of the first 22 points to extend to a 63-39 lead with just 5:21 gone by. It would continue in that fashion the rest of the way as Clayton State eventually pushed out to a massive 34 point lead, 92-58, with 5:16 on the clock. From there they would close out the 100-70 blowout victory.
 
Arben Camaj led the Cougars with 15 points and five blocks while Ryan Burnett finished with 13 points and four boards. John Lambert rounded things out with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
The Lakers are back in action this weekend when they host Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, February 11. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. on Homecoming at The Loch.
 
NOTES
The victory snapped a nine game road losing streak to Columbus State, dating back to February 6, 2008 … it also put an end to the Cougars regular season 15 game home win streak … Clayton State's two previous largest victories were by 19 points on January 17, 2007 (76-57 in Columbus) and on January 24, 2011 (66-47 in Morrow).

Update: With Georgia College's loss at Montevallo, Clayton State now holds the fourth spot in the Peach Belt Conference West Division.