MORROW, Ga. – In a game where defense was optional, senior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) challenged the all-time single game scoring record and Clayton State (8-12, 6-9 PBC) scored the fourth most points in school history in a 121-115 victory over Young Harris (10-11, 8-7 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 6.
 
The 121 points represent not only the fourth most in the history of the program but is also the most ever scored against a Division II team. The program record is 130 in a 130-63 victory over unaffiliated Carver on December 3, 2003 with 128 against DeVry (128-44) on February, 25, 1992 a close second. The third highest also came against Carver in a 124-69 blowout on December 3, 2008. Each of those games came at The Loch.
 
Taylor put up 36 points on 17-of-19 shooting, including hitting his first 13 shots, while hauling down 10 boards to lead the way for the Lakers. He came up just four points shy of tying the single game record of 40 points set by Clayton State Athletics Hall of Famer Robert Conley at USC Aiken on January 27, 1999. However, his 17 made field goals did tie Conley's program mark set against Emmanuel on November 28, 1998. The 36 points was easily a career-high, surpassing his previous best of 29 set at Flagler on February 10, 2018.
 
Joining him in the scoring barrage was redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) with 22 points behind the force of four three-pointers and junior guard D'von Moore (Statesboro, Ga.) equaled his career-high with 16 points as he knocked down four threes of his own.
 
Freshman guard Savvon Delgado (Atlanta, Ga.) added 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and redshirt-senior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) just missed a double-double with nine points and eight caroms.
 
Frenetic would not begin to describe the pace as both teams hit the ground running from the opening tip. Clayton State would push out to a 22-15 advantage by the 13:16 mark and would maintain that seven point margin with a 36-29 lead with just under nine minutes left in the half.
 
With the Lakers up 44-40, YHC put together a 21-9 run over a span of 7:34 to flip the script and pull ahead 61-53 with 1:17 remaining in the frame. A 7-0 burst, capped by a Moore triple, then made it 61-60 score at the break.
 
The Mountain Lions would either hold onto the lead or be down just one over the first six minutes of the second half but that would change with a 6-0 Clayton State run that put them up 81-76 with 13:04 to play. The lead would then change hands twice more but the last would truly be the last as the Lakers would not give it back the rest of the way.
 
After pulling back ahead at 86-83 off of a McRae longball with 10:54 on the clock, Clayton State would not surrender the lead as they hit the 100 point plateau with 7:08 to go and extended their advantage back to double-digits at 107-97 less than a minute later.
 
Young Harris would close to within six points twice before the Lakers pushed it back to a 12 point spread at 116-104 with under two minutes to go. The Mountain Lions made it interesting, however, as seven straight points cut it to five with 35 seconds left before finally falling by the wayside in the 121-115 final.
 
Justin Jones erupted for 34 points to go with three steals and four rebounds to pace YHC while Nicksen Blanc finished with 14 points and nine boards. Brian Harper, who in a game that saw multiple line changes at the scorer's table, almost never left the floor as he played 37 minutes and recorded 10 points, six caroms, three assists and three steals. Paul Miller contributed 16 points to the scoring effort and Ray Reeves and Ryle Owens each had 11.
 
The Lakers hit the road for a pair of games beginning at Francis Marion on Saturday, February 9. Game time is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina following the women's contest.
 

Young Harris vs. Clayton State (2/6/19)