MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Clayton State (8-14, 5-11 PBC) could not withstand a 51-point second half as they dropped an 89-78 decision at Georgia College (13-9, 8-8 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 13.
 
Freshman forward Gabriel Joseph-Bryan (Bronx, N.Y.) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, five of which came off of the offensive glass, to pace the Lakers while redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) finished with 13 points, six caroms and four assists.
 
Redshirt-senior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) and senior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) added 12 and 11 points, respectively, with the latter adding three steals. Freshman forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) chipped in with eight points and freshman guard Arusha Hunter (Snellville, Ga.) notched seven points and four rebounds.
 
It would be a tightly contest first half as neither team would gain better than a five point advantage over the opening 20 minutes, and that just twice. Both of those would be Laker leads with the last being a 17-12 difference with 9:32 gone by.
 
That wouldn't stay that way long, and over almost the remainder of the half, the clubs would be separated by no more than three points, often just by one or deadlocked. The lead would change hands six times and find the teams tied on a pair of occasions, the last at 34-34 with 1:02 on the clock.
 
The score got knotted up that time off of a Kohl Roberts layup and the first of two Desmond Mitchell-LaFlam free throws. The second of those gave GC back the lead and Mitchell-LaFlam would extend to a 38-34 haltime lead as he hit a three with eight seconds left in the half.
 
Over the first minute and a half of the second, Clayton State would pull even at 40-40 but it would be all Bobcats over the next five-plus minutes as they used a 16-4 run to rebuild their lead at 56-44 by the 13:13 mark.
 
Four points from McRae and a triple from junior guard D'von Moore (Statesboro, Ga.) cut it back to seven at 58-51 as part of a 7-2 burst but that would be as close as they would get. On the horizon would be a devastating 25-9 run by Georgia College that ballooned that margin to an insurmountable 83-60 with 4:17 to go. From there the Lakers scored 18 of the final 24 points but could not prevent the 89-78 final just minutes later.
 
Jordan Thomas delivered an impressive performance to pace Georgia College as he finished with a game-high 31 points while Roberts had a "big man's" double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, six of which were offensive. Isaac Thomas wasn't far behind with 14 points, 13 caroms and five assists and Mitchell-LaFlam had nine points, four assists and three steals.
 
The Lakers are back in action when they return to The Loch for Homecoming 2019 against Flagler. Tip-off is set for a special time of 5 p.m. following the women's contest.