Clemson advances to title game with 64-49 win over Georgia

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman — Marcquise Reed scored 24 points and Elijah Thomas turned in his second double-double in as many games to help lead No. 16 Clemson University men’s basketball past Georgia, 64-49, to advance to the Cayman Islands Classic championship game on Wednesday night.

The Tigers (5-0) will advance to the championship game tomorrow night and will face either Georgia State or Creighton at 7:30 p.m. Clemson will have a chance to clinch its first regular season tournament championship since a Charleston Classic title in 2008.

Reed led all scorers with 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting, narrowly missing a double-double with nine rebounds. He also tallied three assists and two steals in the contest. Down low, Thomas notched 12 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and two steals.

Shelton Mitchell was the third Tiger in double-figures with 13 points and grabbed three rebounds and finished with two steals.

Clemson took an eight-point lead into the locker room and it didn’t take long into the second stanza for the Tigers to push its lead to double-digits on the Bulldogs (3-2). The Tigers pushed its lead to a game-high 17 points at 59-42 with 5:08 to go in regulation.

The last 11 minutes of regulation the Tigers only allowed nine points to the Bulldogs, improving head coach Brad Brownell’s record to 40-2 at Clemson when his team allows less than 50 points. The Tigers have won the last 21 of those contests.