Orangeburg, S.C.—Kendall Jackson came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points with seven rebounds as the Claflin men's basketball team defeated Miles College by 18, 88-70, in its 2015 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) opener.  The win was the second straight for the Panthers who improved to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in the SIAC.
 
Claflin scored the first seven points of the game and led by 22, 28-8, midway thru the first half.  The Panthers offense was connecting on all cylinders, as they used a 10-3 run to increase their lead to 27, 38-11, with 4:10 remaining in the first half.  Claflin enjoyed its biggest lead of the 32 points (43-11) at the 2:28 mark before heading into the half with the 26-point lead, 45-19.
 
The Panthers maintained the momentum at the start of the second half, opening with a 7-3 run to increase the lead to 30, 52-22, with 17:15 remaining in the ball game.  Miles (1-7, 0-1 SIAC) scored the next four points but Claflin remained poised, using a 5-0 run to push its lead to 31, 56-25, at the 15:03 mark.  The teams exchanged baskets over the next two-plus minutes before the Golden Bears used a 6-0 run over two-minute period to cut the deficit to 25, 61-36.  Miles managed to pull within 21, 68-47, with 7:57 remaining, but the Panthers offensive intensity picked up.  Claflin put together a 12-2 run, to push the lead back to 29, 78-49, with just over 4:41 remaining.  Miles pulled within 21, 86-65, with 38 seconds remaining before falling by 18, 88-70.
 
Adolph Caldwell scored 19 and Carlton Johnson came off the bench to contribute 14 points in the win for Claflin.  Ryan McNeill-Moses pulled in seven rebounds for the Panthers, who shot 71.8 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Miles was led by Maiscei Greir with a game-high 27 points.  The Golden Bears had four players to score in double-figures as Patrick Jackson, Albert Peterson and Hasain Bunnel each scored 10 points.  Larry Butler pulled in a game-high nine rebounds in the loss.
 
The Panthers will be back in action this Monday, Jan. 5 when they host LeMoyne-Owen in a 7:30 p.m. SIAC match-up in Tullis Arena.