Orangeburg, S.C. – The Blue Bears of Livingstone College ended the Claflin University five-game winning streak, defeating the Panthers 77-62 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Southern Division matchup on Monday (Feb. 18) at the Tullis Arena.
Claflin is now 12-13 overall and finished its first regular-season of competition in the CIAA at 10-8.
Brandon Davis led three Panthers in double-figures with career-tying 15 points, followed by Cornellius Reynolds at 13 points.
Austin Lawton, who joined the Claflin 1,000th-point club, added 12 points along with three blocked shots.
Triston Thompson and Danny Brown contributed eight points apiece.
Livingstone, now 16-9 overall and 9-7 in the CIAA, was led by Roger Ray with a game-high 23 points. Kenny Grant had 12 points.
For the game, Livingstone outrebounded Claflin by a 35-28 margin and shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the floor compared to 37.0 percent (20-of-54) for the Panthers.
Both teams were 16-for-18 from the charity stripe.
The much-taller Blue Bears scored 30 points in the paint to 18 for Claflin.
Livingstone led the entire second-half after moving in front at the 10:37 mark of the first-half at 22-20.
The Blue Bears led by 10 points, 45-35, with 15:56 left only to see Claflin rack up 13 of the next 22 points to trail 54-48 with 8:54 left. Free throws kept the Panthers within striking distance as Claflin was 12-for-14. Lawton was a perfect 10-for-10.
The Panthers moved a little closer at 55-50 with 8:37 left on a basket by Rodney Prichard but could get no closer as Livingstone outscored Claflin 22-12 in the final eight minutes.
In the first half, Claflin jumped out of the gate quick, scoring the game's first eight points. The Panthers held the lead until Cameron Carpenter connected on a three-pointer for Livingstone with 14:27 on the clock, giving the Blue Bears a 13-12 lead.
Livingstone pushed its lead to 20-14 at the 12:22 mark before the Panthers answered with six straight points, tying the contest at 20-all with 11:12 showing on the game clock.
The tie lasted only 35 seconds as Livingstone reeled off six straight points of its own in taking a 26-20 lead with 9:35 left in the period.
The contest remained close over the next 3-1/2 minutes with Claflin trailing by a bucket at 28-26. The final six minutes would see the Blue Bears outscored the Panthers 11-4 to lead 39-30 at intermission.
Claflin will wrap up the regular season on Thursday (Feb. 21), entertaining rival Benedict College for Senior Night. The contest is slated for 7:30 p.m.
