MORROW, Ga. – Freshman guard Arusha Hunter (Snellville, Ga.) dropped a career-high 30 points but it was not enough as Clayton State (4-8, 1-5 PBC) battled back in the second half against Francis Marion (9-2, 5-1 PBC) before falling 98-80 in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, January 12.
 
Hunter exploded for 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 at the foul line while pulling down a career-best tying seven boards to lead the Lakers. The performance shattered his previous best of 12 points against USC Aiken on December 17, 2018.
 
Senior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) ripped down 10 rebounds to go with seven points, a pair of steals and three assists and junior guard Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) notched 12 points. Junior guard D'von Moore (Statesboro, Ga.) added 10 points and three assists to round out the top performers.
 
After not being separated by more than two points over the first 4:42 it would be Francis Marion that would pull away as they used an 18-8 run to go up 27-16 with 12:01 left in the half. A brief 4-0 spurt by the Lakers stemmed the tide but only temporarily.
 
Over the next 11 minutes the Patriots would dominate play as they extended that margin to 22 points at 60-38 with 1:01 left in the frame. A pair of free throws from Hunter would then send the teams to the break with the score at 60-40.
 
FMU would stretch the lead to 23 points at 65-42 in the opening minutes of the second half before a 9-1 run, all on three-pointers, cut it to 66-51 and got Clayton State back in the game at the 16:36 mark. The Patriots would maintain at least a 15 point lead until the Lakers brought it to 76-62 behind three free throws at the 9:10 mark.
 
Following a layup by Brandon Parker to push it back to a 16 point margin, Hunter would take over with eight straight points for the Lakers, including back-to-back three-pointers, to slice the deficit all the way to 78-70 with 6:48 remaining.
 
A pair of Kendall Wall free throws pushed it back to double-digits but Clayton State would claw back to within nine, this time at 85-76 and over three minutes later. That would be their last charge, however, as FMU went 9-of-10 from the foul line down the stretch and notched a couple of key buckets to close out the 98-80 victory.
 
As impressive as Hunter was, the Patriots' Ryan Davis had him topped with a game-high 31 points, on 17-of-18 shooting at the foul line, to go with eight boards and four assists. He was joined by Parker with 22 points and Wall with 17 points. Both had six rebounds apiece and Jaquez Smith added 11 points and three assists. Kailex Stephens and Je'quan Perry rounded things out with nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Lakers return to action on Wednesday, January 16 when they play host to Georgia College. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest at The Loch.
 

Francis Marion vs. Clayton State (1/12/19)