MORROW, Ga. – A career-night from redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) and tremendous three-point shooting anchored a commanding 98-75 Clayton State (6-12, 3-9 PBC) victory over Georgia Southwestern (2-16, 0-12 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, January 30.
 
McRae had a sensational night as he blew past his career-high to finish with 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-10 from the foul line. He also added seven boards, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes.
 
Not to be outdone, fellow senior sharpshooter Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) registered a career-high 20 points, going 8-of-10 from the field with a 4-of-5 performance from long distance. The latter equaled his career-high for three-point makes, marking the fourth time in his two-year career.
 
Senior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards and redshirt-senior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) added 12 points and five caroms. Junior guard D'von Moore (Statesboro, Ga.) chipped in with nine points and a career-best five assists to round out the top performers.
 
After jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead in the opening minutes, the Lakers would see GSW answer with a 7-2 burst to cut it to two before evening things up at 12-12 with 14:33 on the clock. At that point Clayton State came right back with an impressive 15-4 run that put them back ahead 27-16 with just over eight to play in the half.
 
The Hurricanes would cut it to seven on three occasions over the next several minutes, the last at 32-25 and 4:49 on the clock, before seven straight points by the Lakers made it a 14 point spread just outside of the three minute mark.
 
With the margin cut to nine, 43-34, just before halftime, a triple by McRae sent his club to the break up 12. However, it would also ignite a deciding 21-5 run that would put Clayton State up 64-39 at the 14:09 mark of the second half and be one in which McRae would put up 15 of those 21 points, knocking down four long balls and converting a traditional three-point play.
 
It would get no better for Georgia Southwestern as the margin grew to 28 points over the next several minutes. With the score at 85-61 and 5:17 on the clock they would show some life with an 8-1 run to cut it to 86-69 but that would be as close as they would get as the Lakers closed out the 98-75 victory.
 
As a team, Clayton State shot .596 from the field but was stunningly even better from long range, finishing with a mark of .667 (14-of-21).
 
Andre Statam led the Hurricanes with 18 points and six rebounds while Jamari Dean finished with 12 points. Jaylin Rutherford recorded six points and as many boards and Jalen Morgan and Queten Taylor each chipped in with eight points.
 
The Lakers are back in action for the briefest of road trips as they head to rival Columbus State on Saturday, February 2. Game time is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. following the women's contest in Columbus, Georgia.
 
NOTES
McRae had previously gone for 25 points twice in his career, most recently against Lander on January 15, 2018 … Tuckson eclipsed his career-high of 18 points, accomplished twice and last vs. Francis Marion on February 3, 2018.
 

Georgia Southwestern vs. Clayton State (1/30/19)