NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Clayton State 83 – Tusculum 79
Records: Lakers (1-1, 0-0 PBC) – Pioneers (1-1, 0-0 SAC)
All-Time Series: Clayton State Leads 4-1
 
MORROW, Ga. – Vince Alexander earned his first win as Clayton State's men's basketball head coach Saturday after the Lakers battled Tusculum to an 83-79 win on the final day of the PBC / SAC Conference Challenge.
 
Six Lakers scored in double-figures, four more than in last night's loss to LMU.
 
A back-and-forth game that featured 11 lead changes, Clayton State took its final lead of the game at 9:50 after a Kobie Johnson layup. The lead never got above six until a pair of Brian Coffey II 3-pointers and a Ricardo Saams Jr. layup put the Lakers ahead by 10 with 1:42 left.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Tusculum erased that lead and put the score at 78-74, but the Lakers made five of their last six free throws to earn their first win of the season and first win since Feb. 22, 2020.
 
Saams Jr. had a team-high 18 points and added five rebounds. Coffey II added 16 points while Wes Williams had 14 points and six boards.

Jalen Shaw added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists as Johnson scored 12 points and had four rebounds and four assists. Ricardo Lynch also had 13 points with three boards and three assists.
 
As a team, Clayton State shot 51.8% from the field and had 40 points in the paint.
 
Tusculum jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead before the Lakers settled in and battled to tie the score at 14-14.
 
It wasn't until the 8:38 mark of the first half that Clayton State took its first lead after using an 8-0 run. All eight points came from Shaw and Saam Jr. After a media timeout, Saams Jr. continued add to the lead, scoring three points before a Williams' made free throw put the score at 29-22.
 
Both teams continued to trade buckets as Tusculum reclaimed the lead and led by four at halftime.
 
The second half was hard fought as neither team led by more than nine until the Laker's 10-point lead with 1:24 remaining.

Up Next:
- The Lakers travel down I-75 South on Tuesday for a road contest at Valdosta State. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.


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