MORROW, Ga. – Clayton State (12-5, 10-3 PBC) jumped out to the early lead and delivered a wire-to-wire finish as they outpaced North Georgia (8-11, 6-7 PBC) by a 96-79 score in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Monday, January 29.
 
Junior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) scored 20 points and hauled in a career-high tying 14 rebounds – nine off the offensive glass - to go with two assists, a pair of blocks and a steal in a career-best equaling 35 minutes for the Lakers. Far from the only high level performer on the night, he was joined by senior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) with his second straight double-double as he recorded 16 points, 10 boards and five assists.
 
Sophomore guard Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and junior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively, as they combined for five threes and redshirt-junior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) added 13 points. Senior guard Dantez Bennamon (Goose Creek, S.C.) rounded things out with six points, six caroms and four assists.
 
Clayton State would waste no time as they exploded out to a 19-7 lead over the first 6:53 before UNG cut the deficit to 20-13 less than a minute later. McRae and Taylor would then put up five points apiece to push the lead to 30-18 and, eventually, 42-27 with 4:24 on the clock.
 
A bucket by the Nighthawks interrupted that run but could not prevent the margin from growing to 19 at 51-32 by the 1:06 mark. From there, the Lakers would take a 55-37 lead into the break.
 
North Georgia would begin the second half by clawing their way back to within seven points, 66-59, behind a 22-11 run that culminated at the 12 minute mark. Still within nine at 70-61 less than two minutes later, the Nighthawks would have their hopes have a comeback dashed in short order.
 
Nairn would knock down a pair of three-pointers and score eight of Clayton State's points as the lead steadily grew to 21 points with an 85-64 score by the 4:45 mark. That wouldn't quite take the fight out of UNG as they rallied to within 87-75 but a 9-4 burst would do it as the Lakers put away the 96-79 victory down the stretch.
 
Shaquan Cantrell knocked down 7-of-8 shots to lead the Nighthawks with 14 points while Ephraim Tshimanga had 10 points, six assists, three boards and a pair of steals. Joining them were Ebo Smith with 13 points, six caroms and three assists and Bennet Fuzak with 12 points and six boards. Lanre Olatunji added 11 points to cap the top performers.
 
The Lakers return to action on Wednesday, January 31 when they head to Young Harris. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. in Young Harris, Georgia following the women's contest against the Mountain Lions.
 
NOTES
Taylor equaled the 14 rebounds he yanked down against Georgia College on January 10, 2018 … his 20 points were four away from his career-best set vs. USC Aiken on January 13, 2018 … with the win, Clayton State maintains a strangle hold on second place in the Peach Belt Conference and trails UNC Pembroke by just a game.