ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A back-and-forth contest capped by a frenetic finish saw Clayton State (2-3, 0-1 PBC) narrowly end up on the wrong end as Flagler (4-2, 1-0 CC) escaped with a 71-69 decision in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, December 1.
 
Redshirt-senior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) led the way with a career-high 18 points to go with eight boards, an assist, a block and a steal in 36 minutes and senior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) had 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and assists.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) nearly had another double-double as he came away with 14 points and nine boards to go with four steals while senior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) added nine points, five assists and three rebounds.
 
It would be a close contest from the very beginning as the teams would be separated by no more than four points over the first 13:23. During that time the lead would change hands a pair of times and the clubs would deadlock three times, the last being at 23-23.
 
At that point Flagler would separate themselves with six straight points for a 29-23 advantage with 5:17 left in the half before the Lakers narrowed the gap to 33-30 less than two minutes later. From there the Saints would score the final five points of the frame to take an eight point margin into the break.
 
Clayton State would generate some instant offense at the start of the second half as they used balanced scoring of three guys with at least five points in a 19-3 run that spanned the first 11:28 and put them ahead 49-41. After weathering that onslaught FC responded with a 14-3 stretch of their own, fueled by eight points from Chris Metzger, to flip the script and take a 55-52 lead by the 7:28 mark.
 
Three minutes later a Taylor dunk would make it 61-58 but a three by Damerit Brown quickly took it back to a six point margin with 3:21 to play. A free throw and a layup by Taylor brought it back to three and then it was bombs away as Vaughn McCall nailed one at the other end and was subsequently answered by a trey from Tuckson, all of which left the Saints with a 67-64 lead and 1:34 on the clock.
 
The Lakers would find themselves down by five on a pair of occasions, the last at 70-65 with 41 seconds left. At that point McRae jacked up a contested three from the right wing, watching it drop through the net as he was fouled. The prolific sharpshooter then drained the free throw for a rare four-point play and cut the deficit to 70-69 at the same time.
 
Out of a Flagler timeout McCall drove to the hoop only to have his shot swatted by Taylor and recovered on the run by McRae. The latter would race down court but could not convert the fastbreak attempt, leading to a Saints rebound and trip to the line following a foul.
 
After FC hit on only the second of two attempts, Clayton State had 4.5 seconds to go the length of the court. However, a mishandle on the inbound dispelled any thoughts of a buzzer beater as the defense quickly locked down and sealed the 71-69 decision.
 
Metzger delivered a monster game for the Saints, finishing with 15 points, 16 boards, two assists and a pair of blocks while McCall dropped 20 points. Gedi Juozapaitis added nine points and five caroms and DeMari Davis notched six points and nine boards to round out the top performers.
 
The Lakers will have an 11-day hiatus before returning to action on Wednesday, December 12 at Lenoir-Rhyne. Game time is set for a special 12 p.m. tip-off in Hickory, North Carolina.