MORROW, Ga. – A series of extended runs and 14 three-pointers, many at key times, would power Clayton State (1-2, 0-0 PBC) as they pounded West Georgia (1-3, 0-0 GSC) by a 97-77 score in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, November 16.
 
Freshman forward Mehdi Pissis (Sartrouville, France) announced his arrival on the college basketball scene as he nailed 4-of-6 three-pointers to for a team-high 20 points along with six boards while senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) had 18 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the foul line. He added three steals and four assists and redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) finished with 17 points behind four triples.
 
Sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) ripped down a career-high 11 rebounds to go with five points and redshirt-junior center Tionne Williams, Jr. (Phenix City, Ala.) nearly had a double-double with nine points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks. Junior forward John Mason (Avon Park, Fla.) and junior guard Byron Abrams (Conyers, Ga.) each added 13 points to round out the top performers.
 
Clayton State would waste no time as they jumped out to a 9-4 lead early on before extending to an 18-6 advantage by the 13:26 mark of the first half. That entire run would be fueled by a three-point barrage as Hart would drain a pair with one by Pissis sandwiched in between.
 
The Wolves would recover in short order as they put together a 10-2 rally as five different players scored to cut the margin to 20-16 with 11:16 left in the half. The lead would continue to fluctuate from four points to 11 and eventually settle on 35-30 by the 3:04 mark. At that point it would be Clayton State's turn for a 10-2 run as Mason scored four of those points, including a run capping triple that made it 45-32 at the break.
 
It would be a margin that would continue to grow in the second half as back-to-back long balls by Pissis powered an 8-0 stretch that pushed the lead to 53-32 less than two minutes in. UWG would battle back to within 15 points at 54-39 but would not pass that threshold until the 11:12 mark. Kadeim Jones drained a pair of free throws to cut it to 13 points, 66-53, and gave the Wolves hope.
 
A steady offensive push allowed them to get within 75-65 by the 6:36 mark but that would be it. A combination of their energy seemingly having been spent on the comeback and a 9-2 run by the Lakers would see them down 86-67 two and a half minutes later. It would get no better for them as Clayton State closed out the 97-77 victory four minutes later.  
 
Jones led West Georgia with a game-high 21 points along with 10 boards and Kovi Tate had 17 points and eight caroms. Seth Brown-Carter added 12 points and Rodney Wiley finished with seven as the Wolves top performers.
 
The Lakers are right back in action when they host Lenoir-Rhyne at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
 
NOTES
The meeting was the first between the teams since the back half of a home-and-home on December 11, 2012 … the win pulled Clayton State to within 21-13 in an all-time series that dates back to December 13, 1993.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO