Claflin Men’s Basketball Closeout Non-conference Play with a 100-79 Win Over Shaw

12/29/2016 10:44:00 PM

Panthers Score 100 Points for the First Time this Season

Box Score Raleigh, N.C.—Austin Lawton scored 16 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as the Claflin University men's basketball team closed out its 2016 non-conference play with a 100-79 win over Shaw University.

With their third straight win, the Panthers improves to 7-4 overall.

Ryan McNeill-Moses had another solid performance, scoring 11 points with a team-high seven rebounds in the contest. Benjamin "Trey" Williams scored 16 points and Kobie Williams rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Panthers with 14.

Triston Thompson contributed seven points with four assists and Jaleel Charles came off the bench to drop in six points with four rebounds and two blocks in the win.

Shaw (5-7) was led in scoring by Benji Bell with 14 points. DeAngelo Stephens-Bell scored 13 points while Larry Richardson and Khaliq Williams added 12 and 10 points, respectively in the loss.

This is the first time this season the Panthers reached the century mark.

"I thought we played hard on both ends of the floor in both games of the tournament," head coach Ricky Jackson said. "We shared the ball and executed. Both Livingstone and Shaw are very good programs with first class coaches."

Claflin began the second half with an 11-1 run increase its lead to 26, 61-35, with 16:50 remaining in the game.

The Panthers maintained a 20-plus point lead throughout the majority of the second half, enjoying their biggest lead of 28, 81-53, at the 7:52 mark.

Shaw managed to pull within 19 twice late in the second half but could not get any closer thus falling by the 21 point margin.

Claflin was clicking defensively as well as offensively. The Panthers defense held Shaw to a dismal 39.6 shooting percent.

Claflin opened the game with an 8-1 run. The Panthers pushed their lead to 11-4 before Shaw's offense came alive. The Bears scored the next six points to cut the deficit to one, 11-10, at the 15:04 mark.

Claflin picked up its offensive intensity over the next five minutes, using a 14-6 run to take a 25-16 lead with 10:35 remaining in the half.

The Panthers remained solid pushing their lead to 15, 34-19, with just over six minutes remaining in the half.
Claflin owned its largest lead of the half 20 (50-30) with 37 seconds remaining before carrying a 16 point lead (50-34) into intermission.

Claflin will return to Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play Monday, Jan. 2, when they travel Tuskegee, Ala. to take on the Golden Tigers of Tuskegee University.

The Panthers will travel to Birmingham, Ala. to take on Miles College (Jan. 4) before returning home on Monday, Jan. 9 to host LeMoyne-Owen in a SIAC contest.

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