Claflin Tops Benedict in SIAC East Rivalry
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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (BENEDICT) – The Benedict College Tigers rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the game, but the Claflin Panthers hit a pair of big 3-pointers late in the game to pull away and take a 69-65 victory in an SIAC basketball contest and leapfrog over Benedict for first place in the SIAC East Division race on Wednesday at Tullis Arena.
Claflin improved to 16-7 overall and 11-4 in the SIAC. Benedict falls to 14-10 and 11-4 in the SIAC. Claflin wraps up the season sweep over Benedict and holds the tiebreaker over the Tigers in the SIAC East Division race.
Brandon Morris led Benedict with 22 points and 11 rebounds, scoring 16 points in the second half. Christopher Spencer added 20 points, with 17 of those coming in the second half.
Benedict trailed 31-17 at the halftime break, and shot just 28.6 percent in the first half.
The Tigers played stronger in the second half, shooting 50 percent and making three 3-point attempts after missing all four attempts from long distance in the first half.
Benedict scored nine straight points early in the second half to trim a 12-point deficit to three points, 33-30, after a layup by Umar Frost with 13:25 left in the game. The Tigers tied the game for the first time since the opening minute of the game at 45-45. After a pair of free throws by Claflin, Quayshun Hawkins tied the game again with a short jumper.
A 3-pointer by Trevor Dantzler gave the Panthers a 50-47 lead and kicked off a 7-0 run. Two 3-pointers in a span of 30 seconds by Tyler Thompson gave Claflin a 64-53 lead with 2:39 remaining. A 3-pointer by Spencer with 24 seconds left cut the lead to 66-62 with 24 seconds remaining, but the Panthers made three free throws in the final 20 seconds before Morris ended the game with a 3-pointer.
Benedict travels to Clark Atlanta on Saturday before closing out the regular season on Monday at home against Paine.
