MORROW, Ga. – Late fireworks, late free throws and a last minute shot waved off at the buzzer delivered Clayton State (5-17, 3-12 PBC) a thrilling 81-80 victory over Georgia Southwestern (8-13, 3-12 PBC), and head coach Jimmy Link his 150^th career victory, in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 12.
 
With the Lakers holding a 71-59 lead with 8:59 to play, GSW dialed up an unfettered 11-0 run that saw seven points from Jamari Dean on their way to making it 71-70 by the 6:05 mark. A spin on the right low block and lay in by redshirt-junior center Tionne Williams, Jr. (Phenix City, Ala.) followed by two makes at the foul line from sophomore guard Arusha Hunter (Snellville, Ga.) stemmed that tide and gave Clayton State a four point advantage with 4:42 to play.
 
The Hurricanes would be far from done, however, as Dean scored every one of his team's points in a 7-2 burst that made it a brand new ball game at 77-77 with 2:34 on the clock. A layup by senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) put the Lakers back ahead by two but GSW and Devon Higgs would top that with a triple from the right corner for an 80-79 lead with just 33 seconds to play.
 
The ensuing play for Clayton State would result in a block on a drive to the hole followed by a Georgia Southwestern turnover that presented another opportunity with just 11 seconds showing. It would be No. 11 Kincey that would come through in the clutch as he drew a blocking foul and dropped in both shots from the line for an 81-80 advantage with five seconds to play.
 
On the inbounds play the Hurricanes raced up the court and appeared to get off a contested straight away three that found its mark only to see it waved off as the final horn sounded, securing the thrilling one point victory for the Lakers.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.), behind the force of five more three-pointers led Clayton State with 24 points to go with three steals and a pair of assists while Kincey finished with 16 points, five boards and four steals in 36 minutes.
 
They were joined by sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds and junior guard Byron Abrams (Conyers, Ga.) just off from those numbers with eight points, eight caroms and two assists. Hunter and Williams, Jr. rounded out the top performers with eight points apiece while the latter added three impressive blocks.
 
It would be a back-and-forth affair early on as both teams would possess the lead over the first 12:20 but never by more than five. With Clayton State trailing 12-11 at that point they mounted a 17-4 run fueled by eight points from Hart and five from Abrams to pull ahead 28-16 with 6:07 showing on the clock.
 
At that point the lead would fluctuate between eight and 12 points, the last of those coming at 39-27 at the 2:51 mark. Following a GSW free throw the Lakers would score five straight points for a 44-28 lead before wrapping the opening frame with a solid 44-32 advantage.
 
The Hurricanes would pull to within nine, 49-40, over the opening two minutes of the second half before seeing the Lakers put together a 5-2 mini burst to push it back to a 12 point margin three minutes in. They would get as close as eight and trail by as many as 13 before finding themselves down 62-55 by the 11:39 mark, and eventually 71-59 before igniting their furious rally.
 
For GSW the story was clearly Dean who erupted for 33 points and 16 rebounds, six of the latter coming off of the offensive glass. Higgs notched a well-rounded effort with 12 points, eight caroms, four steals and a pair of blocks while Jalen Cameron finished with 14 points and eight boards. Soloman Thomas rounded out the top performers with nine points.
 
Clayton State head coach Jimmy Link earned his 150^th career win in his 10^th season as a head coach and currently sports a 150-127 overall record. He has previously been a head coach at Paine from 2010-15 and has been in Morrow since the 2015-16 season.
 
The Lakers return to action on Homecoming on Saturday, February 15 when they take on Francis Marion. Game time is set approximately for 5 p.m. following the women's contest at The Loch.