NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Clayton State 81 – Flagler 85
Records: Lakers (6-12, 1-7 PBC) – Saints (15-3, 8-1 PBC)
All-Time Series: Clayton State Leads 8-7
 
MOROW, Ga. – In a game that featured 13 lead changes, a double-double from Jalen Shaw and a career-best 19 points from Xavier Joyner, the Clayton State men's basketball team fell in the final minutes to No. 23 Flagler College in Wednesday's Peach Belt Conference matchup.
 
The Lakers battled it out until the final moments against the 23rd ranked team in the nation and the PBC leader.
 
Clayton State scored the game's first basket off a Shaw dunk and led throughout the first half. The Lakers built a 10-point lead off a Kobie Johnson 3-pointer with 6:39 left to play.
 
Flagler chipped away and took its first lead with 1:06 left to play, but Ricardo Saams Jr. scored at the buzzer to tie the game at 37-37.
 
Joyner sank a 3-pointer to open the second half and give the lead back to the Lakers. The two teams would then slug it out as neither team led by more than five points.
 
Tied 77-77, Jalen Shaw hit two free throws to put the Lakers ahead with 4:29 remaining.
 
The final minutes however would go to Flagler as the Saints used an 8-2 run to seal the game.
 
Shaw finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds as he recorded his seventh double-double of the season. He leads the PBC with 8.5 rebounds a game. He also had three assists and two steals.
 
Wes Williams contributed 11 points and five rebounds while Saams Jr. had eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
 
Flagler's All-American Jaizec Lottie had 31 points and 10 rebounds.

Up Next:
- Clayton State hits the road on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff against Augusta  
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________
Be sure to follow Clayton State Athletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.