FLORENCE, S.C. – In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Peach Belt Conference the game lived up to its billing as Clayton State (7-3, 5-1 PBC) upended No. 23 Francis Marion (8-3, 3-3 PBC) to earn a hard fought 66-59 victory in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, January 6.
Â
Junior forward
Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) continued what has been a tremendous season with 17 points, eight boards, a career-best five blocks and a pair of steals to lead the Lakers. Following a career-high last time out, junior guard
Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) delivered another stellar effort with 15 points behind three big three-pointers.
Â
Junior forward
Jamil McKee (Greenville, Ga.) just missed a double-double with eight points and eight boards along with three assists while senior forward
Denzel Council (Macon, Ga.) added eight points. Sophomore guard
Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) chipped in with six points, five caroms, two assists and a pair of blocks. The blocks mark a career-high while the boards equal a career-best.
Â
Back-to-back threes to start the game would stake FMU to an early 6-0 lead before Clayton State put together an 11-3 run to pull ahead 11-9 with 14:56 on the clock. From there the clubs would battle through three lead changes and a pair of ties, eventually deadlocking at 19-19 with 8:02 left in the half.
Â
A triple by the Patriots all-time leading scorer Detrek Browning then sparked a 9-2 stretch that would leave them with a 28-21 lead at the 3:23 mark. Consecutive buckets by Clayton State, capped by a dunk from Taylor, cut it to three before Francis Marion closed the half with a 35-25 lead.
Â
The Lakers would close to within 40-34 by the 16:48 mark of the second half before FMU pushed back out to an 11 point lead less than a minute later. From there Clayton State would fight back to within four, 50-46, with 10:11 on the clock.
Â
Trailing by that four point margin, Tuckson helped eliminate it completely as he knocked down back-to-back triples and sparked a 10-2 run that flipped the script and gave the Lakers a 56-52 lead with 5:57 to play. That surge would continue as sophomore guard
Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) drilled a three-pointer that helped make it 59-54 by the 2:37 mark.
Â
The Patriots would not go away, however, as a Warren Specht jumper cut it to three just outside of two minutes. Following a timeout Tuckson would deliver a dagger as he drained his third three of the night, this one from the left wing, to make it a 62-56 margin with just 51 seconds to play. It would be all Clayton State would need as they salted away the 66-59 victory.
Â
Browning scored a game-high 19 points behind a 5-of-9 outing from beyond the arc to lead the Patriots while Victor Hunt finished with 11 points. Brandon Parker nearly had a double-double, finishing with nine points, eight boards and three assists. Judah Alexander added seven boards, four points and three steals and Jaquez Smith had eight points.
The Lakers are back in action on Wednesday, January 10 when they travel to Georgia College. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's game against the Bobcats.
Â
NOTES
Entering the week, FMU was ranked No. 23 in the D2SIDA Poll … Taylor was one point shy of tying his career-high of 18 points set earlier this season … Tuckson came off of the Young Harris game on January 3 in which he drained a career-best 18 points … with the win and a loss by Augusta, the Lakers find themselves tied atop the PBC standings with UNC Pembroke, which pulled out an 82-75 double overtime victory over Georgia College.
Â