AIKEN, S.C. – Redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) delivered a second straight outstanding performance as Clayton State (1-1, 0-0 PBC) outlasted Tusculum (0-2, 0-0 SAC) to claim a 77-73 victory in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, November 10.
 
McRae erupted for 23 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the foul line and ripped down 11 boards for his second straight double-double while redshirt-senior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
Senior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) fueled that offense with a career-high seven assists and added 10 points and junior guard Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 10 points of his own. Junior guard D'von Moore (Statesboro, Ga.) knocked down four threes for 12 points and freshman forward Gabriel Joseph-Bryan hauled in nine boards, three offensive, to round things out.
 
The teams would trade buckets over the first three minutes with TU holding a narrow 6-5 advantage at the 17:09 mark. Over the next two minutes, however, the Lakers would fuel a 9-2 run with a pair of Owens baskets to pull ahead 14-8 at 15:09.
 
It would be the Pioneers turn over the next nearly six minutes as they closed the gap to 20-19 before knotting it up at 25-25 with 7:26 left in the half. A pair of free throws by McRae gave them back the lead but it would be a triple from Dillon Smith that would spark a 12-1 run over the final 5:42 and send Tusculum to the break up 37-28.
 
That would change over the first four minutes of the second half as the Lakers erupted for a 13-0 run behind a pair of threes from Nairn and five straight points from McRae to make it 41-37 by the 16:13 mark. With the score at 47-44, TU then used an 11-0 explosion to flip the script and pull ahead 55-47 with 10:43 on the clock.
 
Clayton State would not fold as McRae dropped seven points as part of a 12-4 run in the next 3:53 that deadlocked it at 59-59 at the 6:50 mark. The Pioneers retook the lead with a pair of Trenton Gibson free throws but couldn't hold it as Moore nailed a three to make it 62-61. That would be the beginning of an 8-3 stretch that left the Lakers with a 67-62 advantage with just over four to play.
 
With the score at 71-66 at the 2:25 mark Tusculum made their move, scoring the next five points on a three by Tariq Jenkins and a jumper by Caleb Hodnett to tie it at 71-71 with 1:36 remaining. An Owens jumper and a pair of free throws from Donovan Donaldson left it deadlocked, but this time it would not be one the Pioneers would recover from.
 
Moore promptly drained another three, Donaldson missed a trey on their end and McRae went 1-of-2 at the line to make it 77-73 with 10 seconds on the clock. From there Tusculum missed a pair of free throws and never really challenged again as Clayton State locked up the four point victory.
 
Jenkins notched a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards to lead Tusculum while Donaldson joined him with 14 points and 10 caroms. Gibson finished with 12 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the line along with four rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks. Smith chipped in with seven points and five rebounds.
 
Clayton State continues to be road warriors as they return to the court next weekend at the 53^rd Annual Pickle Classic in Mount Olive, North Carolina. Hosted by Mount Olive, the Lakers will face the Trojans at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 16 before taking on Barton at 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 17.
 
NOTES
The game was the final of two this weekend for the Lakers at the 2018 SAC/PBC Challenge hosted by USC Aiken.