Men's Basketball Opens Season Against UNC Pembroke On Wednesday

The Clayton State men’s basketball team will finally begin its season on Wednesday, January 6, after a two-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Lakers open their 16-game, conference-only slate with UNC Pembroke in Morrow, Ga. at the Loch and Mason Barfield Court at 3:30 p.m.

Fans can follow the action through the PBC Sports Network here and follow along with live stats here. 

Throughout the fall, the Lakers battled COVID, quarantine and injuries. It was an interesting and challenging fall season for first-year head coach Lance Egnatz who will lead the men’s team this season after being named interim head coach in June 2020. 

Egnatz joined the Laker family in July 2015 as an assistant before being named associate head coach in October 2019. 

“The fall was very interesting to say the least. We were dealing with COVID and were battling some injuries,” Egnatz said. “We had a late start with not being able to get in the gym when the guys got back. Then when we did get going, we had a positive test two weeks into the practice and had to quarantine for two weeks. 

“We were doing good and then had another positive test with over week left until Thanksgiving, so we had to end practice early. We missed about four-to-five days which would have been nice to have but overall, I thought the fall went well.” 

Like many teams in the conference, Clayton State elected to begin the season on January 6 and will play a conference-only schedule. The Lakers open with the defending regular-season conference champion, UNC Pembroke, and then plays at the defending conference tournament champion, Lander University, three days later. 

Despite the challenging start and difficult schedule, Egnatz’s expectations remain high. 

The men’s team is consisted of 11 student-athletes, three of which were on last year’s squad. Fifth-year senior Christoff Nairn, junior Ricardo Saams Jr., and sophomore Jordan Curtis make up the three returners while six transfers and two freshmen round out the roster. 

Nairn has played in 78 games over three seasons while missing last season with an injury. Saams started 20 of 27 games last season and averaged 12.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while Curtis played in 20 games last season, averaging 7.3 minutes per game. 

“It’s been exciting molding all of us together and trying to blend in the differences,” Egnatz said. “Even the returners were new to it now that I’m leading the team instead of being an assistant. But we’ve just been trying to get everyone on the same page. We’ve had our ups and downs as everyone has but overall they’ve been coming together.

“Our goal is to be in the mix to get in the conference tournament. Only four teams make it this year so that’s our goal."

The Braves enter Wednesday's contest as the 22nd ranked school in the D2SIDA Poll and are receiving votes in the Division II NABC Coaches Poll. They dropped their only game of the season after falling to Belmont Abbey 68-67. Last season, UNC Pembroke claimed the regular-season title, but fell in the semifinals to Columbus State in overtime.  

Looking ahead, the Braves will play only conference games for the remainder of the season. Their home opener will be on January 9.