Claflin falls to Albany State in SIAC action

Orangeburg, S.C. — Albany State University withstood a late second-half rally by Claflin University in defeating the Panthers 71-62 in a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) basketball game Monday at the Tullis Arena.

The loss, Claflin fourth straight after winning 16 straight games, dropped the Panthers to 17-5 on the season. All four defeats have come against divisional teams, putting Claflin at 10-4 in the SIAC with five conference games remaining.

Claflin will continue its four-game homestand with the third leg against an undefeated Morehouse College on Wednesday (Jan. 31) at 8 p.m. Morehouse, 18-0 on the season, defeated the Panthers 86-75 in Atlanta, Ga. on Jan. 20.

Timothy Christian II led Claflin in a losing effort with 11 points.  Austin Lawton had a balanced game with 10 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.

Benjamin “Tre” Williams scored nine points for the Panthers while Triston Thompson added eight.

Albany State was led in scoring by Jared Harrington with a game-high 17 points.

Claflin never led in the game and trailed 35-23 at halftime.

The deficit was pushed to 18 points at 60-42 with 6:51 left in the contest.  The next 4:13 would see the Panther offense come to life, producing a 17-5 run and cutting Albany State lead to six points, 65-59, with 2:38 left.

Albany State ended Claflin comeback by outscoring the Panthers 6-3 in the final minute of the game.

In the first half, the closest Claflin got to Albany State was 3-2 on a pair of free throws from Austin Lawton at 18:23 mark.

Claflin managed to keep the lead to a single digit until Michael Green hit a pair of free throws, putting Albany state up 21-11 with 7:14 showing on the clock.

The final seven minutes of the half would see Albany State just barely outscore Claflin at 14-12 to lead 35-23 at the intermission.

Information from a press release was used in the writing of this article.