Atlanta, Ga. - The Claflin University men's basketball team suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, falling to Clark Atlanta University 97-82 in a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Division game on Monday (Jan. 22).
 
Claflin, now 17-3 on the season, previously lost to Morehouse College over the weekend, snapping the Panthers 16-game winning streak. The loss also dropped Claflin into third place in the division at 10-2 behind Morehouse and Clark Atlanta, both undefeated in the division with 12-0 records.
 
The Panthers will look to get back into the win column when they return to the Tullis Arena for a four-game homestand, starting Saturday (Jan. 27) against divisional foe Fort Valley State University.
 
The SIAC double-header, which features the women's contest, gets underway at approximately 3:30 p.m.
 
Triston Thompson led three Claflin players in double-figures with 20 points, 12 coming in the first half. He also had three three-pointers and was near perfect performance at the free throw line at 9-of-10 to go with four assists.
 
Jaleel Charles scored 13 points for the Panthers and shared team-high in rebounds with Austin Lawton at seven.
 
Timothy Christian II rounded the double-figure scoring for Claflin with 10 points.
 
Benjamin "Tre" Williams added nine points and five assists for the Panthers.
 
Clark Atlanta, now 18-1, placed four players in double-figures with Mark Burton and Jalen Mitchell leading the way with 20 points.
 
One of the differences in the ballgame came from behind the three-point line where Clark Atlanta was 17-of-32 (53.1%) while Claflin was 7-of-26 (26.9%).
 
Heading into the final half of play, Claflin held the lead for most of the first eight minutes. The Panthers biggest lead during that span was eight points at 46-38 with 18:32 left in the game.

Clark Atlanta pulled even at 60-60 with 11:13 left. That would be the last tie of the game as the home team took a 10-point lead over the next 3:16 minutes at 73-63.
 
The Panthers would score the next four points, cutting Clark Atlanta lead to single digits at 73-67 with 6:04 left. That would be the closest Claflin would get as Clark Atlanta outscored the Panthers 24-15 the rest of the way.
 
In the first half, the lead changed hand nine times with the largest being six points by Clark Atlanta.
 
Tondric Johnson jumper with seven seconds before the half gave Claflin a 36-35 lead at the intermission.