Claflin beats Tuskegee in first round of SIAC Tournament

Birmingham, Ala. – The Claflin University men’s basketball team turned an eight point second half deficit into an 11 point win defeating Tuskegee 73-62 in the opening round of the 2018 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) basketball tournament.  With the win, the Panthers advance to face Lane in the quarterfinal at 3:15 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, Mar. 1.  Lane advanced to the quarterfinal by defeating Paine College earlier in the day.

Benjamin “Tre” Williams and Triston Thompson paced Claflin (22-6) with 15 points apiece.  Williams also pulled in a game-high eight rebounds in the win.

Austin Lawton contributed nine points while Timothy Christian, II and Jaleel Charles added eight points apiece.  Charles also had seven rebounds in the contest.

Tuskegee, who finished the season with a 7-22 record, was led in scoring by James Eads who dropped in a game-high 24 points.  Myles Thomas scored 17 points with seven rebounds and Travis Flagg added 12 points.

Cam Grepke came off the bench to contribute six points and six rebounds in the loss.

Tuskegee lead by three, 33-30 at the half and owned its biggest league of eight, 38-30, at 17:41.

The Tigers led for 22:45 while Claflin owned the lead for 13:17 and there were five ties and five lead changes.