FLORENCE, S.C. – Redshirt-senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) erupted for a career-high 31 points as Clayton State (8-13, 5-10 PBC) came up just short in the closing minutes of a 107-98 decision at Francis Marion (16-4, 12-3 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, February 9.
 
McRae reset his personal best for the second time in four games, finishing with those 31 points to go with seven rebounds while senior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) delivered a career-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. An incredible 6-of-8 of those came from beyond the arc, marking a personal best in total makes.
 
Junior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, seven rebounds and career-high tying seven assists to go with a pair of steals and senior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) added 16 points. Junior guard Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) rounded things out with 13 points.
 
The Patriots came out of the gate strong, racing out to a 10-2 lead over the first 2:49 behind back-to-back three-pointers and would extend that lead to 25-11 by the 12:16 mark. A traditional three-point play by Kincey temporarily stemmed the tide but FMU responded by knocking down a three and would maintain at least a 12 point lead until a triple by Tuckson and consecutive layups by Taylor sliced it to 34-27 with 6:17 left in the half.
 
A devastating 14-0 run, half of that from Brandon Parker, then extended the Patriots advantage to 48-27 by the 4:10 mark. Over the remaining four-plus minutes, the Lakers would then cut the deficit to 53-40 by the break.
 
The start of the second half would see Clayton State get back in it as they scored seven of the first 10 points to get it back into single digits at 56-47 just over two minutes in. As they had seemingly done every other time the Lakers made a run, FMU drained a three-pointer, this time by Jaquez Smith, and once again distanced themselves.
 
Over the next 6:29 the margin would fluctuate between 12 and 15 points, eventually winding up at 78-64 with 11:19 on the clock. At that point Clayton State erupted for a 17-7 run that took it from a double-digit deficit to pulling them to within four at 85-81 with 7:02 to play. During that stretch Tuckson scored eight points, including a pair of key threes.
 
Back-to-back Winston Hill layups then pushed it to an eight point margin before it would be dueling three-pointers with McRae and Tuckson knocking down one each for the Lakers sandwiched around one by Smith on the other side. That series left the Patriots with just a 92-87 lead but one they would soon expand upon.
 
Over the next two-plus minutes they slowly built to a nine point margin behind four free throws before Clayton State chipped away to get it to 101-96 with 1:10 to play. That would be as close as they would get, however, as FMU salted away the 107-98 victory over the final minute.
 
Smith led the way for the Patriots with 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting and also dished out eight assists while Parker and Je'Quan Perry each had 21 points. Parker added six boards and as many assists and Perry grabbed five rebounds. Hill finished with 15 points and eight caroms and Ryan Davis knocked down three triples on his way to 13 points.
 
The Lakers return to action when they travel to Georgia College on Wednesday, February 13. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest in Milledgeville, Georgia.
 
NOTES
McRae previously broke his career-high for scoring with 30 points against Georgia Southwestern on January 30, 2019 … Tuckson bested his personal best of 20 points set in that same game.