Claflin Men Dominates Paine in SIAC Win
Augusta, Ga. (Claflin) – Austin Lawton scored a game-high 23 points as the Claflin University men’s basketball team cruised past Paine College, 90-56, in a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Division contest in Augusta, Ga.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 15-6 overall and 10-3 in the SIAC.
Lawton, had an all-around effective game, pulling in a team-high seven rebounds with two steals and two blocked shots.
Jaleel Charles and Albert Miller came off the bench to score 14 points apiece for the Panthers. Charles also pulled in six rebounds with two blocked shots in the win.
Paine was led by Kaderious Compton and Justin Syphoe with 12 points each. Yusef Riley pulled in a game-high eight rebounds and seven points for the Lions.
Paine (1-18, 0-13 SIAC) appeared to have the momentum at the start of the second half. The Lions opened the half with a 5-2 run to cut the halftime lead to 14, 48-34, but Claflin picked up its offensive intensity.
The Panthers rattled off the next five-of-six points to regain the momentum.
Claflin kept pressing, taking its then largest lead of the game 25 (62-37), as Lawton completed a three-point play with 11:18 remaining in the contest.
The Panthers pushed their lead to 40 with 3:15 remaining before defeating the Lions by the 34 point margin.
For the game, the Panthers outscored Paine 54-18 in the paint and had 31 points off the Lions 23 turnovers.
Claflin took control of the game from the tip.
The Panthers jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first five-plus minutes of the game. Lawton scored 12 of the 14 points during the stretch.
Claflin enjoyed its largest lead of the first half, 21 on two occasions and enjoyed a 17 point lead at the half, 46-29.
The Panthers held Paine to just seven first half field goals. 13 of the Lion’s 29 points came from the charity stripe in the first half.
The Panthers will face Francis Marion on Monday, Feb. 13 before returning home to host Benedict in a SIAC contest next Wednesday.
