Tigers Fall To Clark Atlanta In SIAC Semifinals, 78-68
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Benedict’s bid for a third straight trip to the SIAC men’s basketball championship game was thwarted on Saturday, as Clark Atlanta took a 78-68 victory on Saturday in the semifinals of the 2024 SIAC Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament presented by Cricket.
The Panthers outscored the Tigers 47-25 in the second half, and held Benedict to 25 percent shooting (8-of-32) in the final 20 minutes. After shooting 5-of-13 on 3-pointers in the first half to help them take a 43-31 lead at the break, the Tigers made just one of 12 3-pointers in the second half.
Clark Atlanta advances to Sunday’s championship game. The Panthers, the No. 1 seed from the East Division, improve to 24-5 overall. Benedict goes to 23-7 and will await word Sunday night if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA D2 Championship.
The Tigers never trailed in the first half and had as much as a 14-point lead, 37-23, after a 3-pointer by Calvin McCutcheon. Benedict had a 43-31 lead at the half.
The Tigers had a 48-39 lead after a layup by Malachi McCoy with 16:11 left in the second half. The Panthers scored the next seven points to trim the lead to two points.
A layup by Brandon Beidleman gave Benedict a 58-55 lead with 7:58 remaining before the Panthers scored the next seven points, taking their first lead of the game on a layup with 4:09 on the clock. Clark Atlanta increased the lead to 67-59 after a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining. Benedict was forced into a fouling situation to try and control the clock and get back into the game, but the Panthers sank 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:20 of the game.
McCoy led the Tigers with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Beidleman added 12 points. Asanti Price and McCutcheon added 10 points each. Tim Moore added 12 rebounds.
Chris Martin, the SIAC Player of the Year, led the Panthers with 22 points, 13 coming in the second half.
Benedict will now wait on the NCAA selection show to find out if they receive an at-large berth into the NCAA D2 Championship Tournament. In the most recent NCAA region rankings, the Tigers were tied for seventh with Clark Atlanta, while Morehouse was ninth and Miles was 10th. Eight teams are selected to participate in the region tournament with automatic bids awarded to the champions of the SIAC, Sunshine State Conference and Gulf South Conference. The men’s selection show will air on NCAA.com at 11 p.m. The region quarterfinals begin on March 16.
