With 13:18 left in the second half, the feelings of a true “Garden City Basketball Classic” unfolding took hold inside the Jonas T. Kennedy Center.
The Claflin men's basketball team was in the midst of a 10-0 run which gave it a 54-50 advantage over South Carolina State. As point guard David Glover of Calhoun County headed to the foul line after converting a layup, he turned intensely toward the home faithful, who outnumbered the Bulldog fans in attendance and encouraged even louder cheers from their side of the gymnasium.
Just when it appeared the Panthers would carry over this momentum to a victory, S.C. State's newest “cavalry” came to the rescue. Led by freshman forward Darryl Palmer and junior college transfers Adama Adams and Matthew Hezekiah, S.C. State stormed back by outscoring Claflin 31-8 over the final minutes.
The final run turned a close contest into a second straight double-digit win in the Classic for S.C. State, this time by an 81-62 score. Mitchell finished with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds to earn this year's “Most Outstanding Player” honors.
Last year's recipient, senior point guard Khalif Toombs, had another strong effort against the Panthers with 17 points and five assists. Backcourt mate Adams had 14 points and a team-high six assists and Hezekiah scored all 14 of his points in the second half to go with 12 rebounds.
As a team, S.C. State shot 50.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. It also enjoyed an advantage at the foul line, hitting 15-26 compared to 9-13 for Claflin and won the rebounding battle 45-32.
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season for S.C. State (0-1), which was missing injured guards Devin Joint (knee) and Randall Black.
“Claflin is a good basketball team,” S.C. State men's basketball coach Tim Carter said. “Claflin is a legitimate MEAC team and for us to win without two starters is a big thing.”
Inspired by a raucous home crowd, the Panthers jumped out to a 5-1 lead early. The Bulldogs responded for the first of six ties and five lead changes in the first half as neither team had a lead greater than six points.
Toombs once again carried the Bulldog offense with a team-high 12 points. Newcomers Shaquille Mitchell and Darryl Palmer also provided a lift offensively with eight points.
Claflin's Marcellus Dunn was one better than Toombs in the first half in finishing with a team-high 20 points, keeping his team in striking distance. The Panthers also got a boost off the bench from Joseph Pellegrino with eight points.
The difference in the first half was free-throw shooting as S.C. State managed to put Claflin in the penalty early and finished 13-20 from the charity stripe in the first half.
The score was tied at 40-40 early in the second half when Matthew Hezekiah scored six of the Bulldogs' next eight points to give them a 48-42 advantage. A 3-pointer by Mounda Williams sparked a 10-0 run and after Glover put Claflin up 54-50, the Panther faithful roared their approval.
Palmer quickly regained S.C. State's momentum with a 3-point play and layup to make it 55-54. He later added a high-arching 3-pointer from the left corner of the gymnasium as part of the game-turning run to give the Bulldogs a 66-55 advantage.
Claflin got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. A 3-point play by Hezekiah with 34 seconds left gave S.C. State its biggest lead and began the procession to the exits for Panther fans.
“We got out of sync offensively and that's what got us back in the game,” Claflin men's basketball coach Ron Woodard said. “It wasn't what they did, it was what we did. You can't stand around and shoot 3-pointers.”
S.C. State (1-0) returns to action Monday against Kennesaw State at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, while Claflin (0-1) will next face Concordia College for “Homecoming” on Nov. 17.
S.C. STATE (81)
Khalif Toombs 17, Adama Adams 14, Shaquille Mitchell 8, Matthew Hezekiah 13, Luka Radovic 6, Patrick Myers 2, Darryl Palmer 21
CLAFLIN (62)
Michael Henry 1, David Glover 10, Marcellus Dunn 20, Jarrod Denard 7, Mark Harp 7, Mounda Williams 3, Joseph Pellegrino 8, Harrison Gibson 2, Patrick Bendegue 2, Alexcion Void 2
