HARROGATE, Tenn. – Facing the best team in NCAA Division II, Clayton State (24-7, 19-3 PBC) could not overcome a blistering first half as they fell by an 87-61 score to No. 1 Lincoln Memorial (32-1, 20-0 SAC) in a Southeast Region Men's Basketball Semifinal on Sunday, March 11.
 
The Lakers were led by their senior guards as Dantez Bennamon (Goose Creek, S.C.) produced 16 points and five rebounds off the bench while Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards to go with a pair of steals and redshirt-junior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) had nine points.
 
The Railsplitters quickly showed why they are the top ranked team in the nation and earned a trip to last season's Final Four. Over the first 9:57 they exploded for a massive 29-8 run behind four three-pointers before Clayton State finally broke the stretch with eight straight points, stemming the tide and cutting it to 29-16 with 8:55 on the clock.
 
It would be only a temporary respite, however, as LMU came right back with a 23-4 run that extended to a 52-20 spread by the 2:26 mark. From there the teams would head to the break with the margin at 56-25. Things would not improve greatly at the start of the second half as the Railsplitters used a 25-14 stretch to push out to a 42 point margin, 81-39, with 11 minutes to play.
 
At that point they would find their rhythm as they put together their most impressive performance of the game, scoring 22 of the next 24 points in a span of 7:05. That run cut the deficit to 83-61 before two more buckets by LMU wrapped up the 87-61 semifinal victory.
 
Trevon Shaw knocked down eight three-pointers to lead all scorers with 26 points while Emanuel Terry came away with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds along with five assists. Dorian Pinson wasn't far behind as he had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes and Cornelius Taylor notched 14 points to round things out.
 
The Lakers wrap up one of the best seasons in program history, finishing 24-7 overall and 19-3 in the Peach Belt Conference. They also collected a second straight PBC Regular Season Championship and won 14 straight games at one point, the second longest in the program's history.
 
Their NCAA Tournament appearance is just the third in team history and their quarterfinal victory over Carson-Newman gave them a win in each of those trips.
 
NOTES
The game against No. 1 Lincoln Memorial was the first time that Clayton State has taken on the top ranked team in NCAA Division II … with UNC Pembroke's loss to Queens in the first semifinal the Lakers were the last Peach Belt Conference team standing … the seven losses tie the fewest in a season in program history, equaling the 2005-06 (21-7) and 1993-94 (25-7) teams … Aubrey McRae finishes the season with 67 three-pointers, just six shy of breaking the single season mark of 72 set by Michael Sloan in 2006-07.