Cornellius Reynolds
Matisse Lee
Reynolds scored 18 points-16 rebounds in his last game as a Panther
56
Claflin CLAFMBB 15-16
58
Winner Winston-Salem State WSSU-M 18-10
Claflin CLAFMBB
15-16
56
Final
58
Winston-Salem State WSSU-M
18-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Claflin CLAFMBB 27 29 56
Winston-Salem State WSSU-M 25 33 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Romanda Noble-Watson, SID

Claflin Tournament Run Ends with a 58-56 Semifinal Loss to Winston-Salem State

Charlotte, NC – The Claflin University men's basketball 2020 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championship run ends with a 58-56 loss to Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) in the semifinal round of the tournament.
 
The Panthers close out the season with a 15-16 record.  Winston-Salem State improves to 18-10 and advance to the tournament finals to face Fayetteville State University on Saturday, Feb. 29.
 
Cornellius Reynolds, who closed out his career on Friday, finished the game with 18 points-16 rebounds.  Brandon Davis came off the bench to contribute12 points.
 
The Rams were led by Robert Colon with a game-high 19 points.  Jaylen Alston finished with a 11 points-12 rebounds.
 
After going into intermission down by two, 27-25, Colon hit two free-throws at the 19:49 mark to open the second half scoring, tying the score at 27-27, the first tie since the 13:24 mark of the first half (7-7).
 
The teams exchanged baskets for the next four points before Claflin managed to go up by three, 33-30, off a Fastbreak basket by Donnell Frayer, Jr.
 
The Rams then used an 8-0 run capped off by a three-pointer by Colon to tie WSSU biggest lead of five, 38-33, with 14:46 left in the contest.
 
A rebound and put-back by Reynolds ended the run at the 13:45 mark.  The Rams hit four three-pointers straight to take a nine-point lead, 44-35 with 11:17 showing on the clock.
 
WSSU pushed its lead to 48-39 with 6:16 remaining but Mykal Johnson came off the bench to score four straight points and cut the lead down to five, 48-43.  The Rams scored the next four points to go back up by eight points, but Johnson was once again effective hitting a layup and drawing a foul.
 
After a missed free-throw by Johnson, Reynolds connected on the put-back but could not hit the free-throw as the Panthers pulled within five, 48-53 at the 2:13 mark of the second stanza.
 
After a double-technical foul that saw WSSU Jaylen Alston ejected from the game, Brandon Davis scored four straight points to bring the Panthers within one, 55-54, with :52 seconds left.  After forcing the Rams into a timeout, Reynolds stole the ball and connected on a layup to give Claflin a 56-55 lead with 40.3 remaining in the game.
 
Colon hit two free-throws to put WSSU up by two, 58-56, with 40.3 left. 
 
After two missed free-throws by the Rams Xavier Fennell, a last effort shot by Reynolds came up short.
 
In the first half, WSSU jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead by the 15:45 mark.  A 3-pointer at the 14:48 mark and a layup at the 13:24 mark by Reynolds tied the game at 7-all.
 
Romero Hill had a steal and a Fastbreak layup to put the Panthers up 9-7 at the 11:57 mark to start an 11-0
run that was capped off by two free-throws by West at the 9:59 mark to put the Claflin up by six, 13-7.
 
Alston hit a layup for the Rams at the 8:38 mark to stop the run.  The layup by Alston also started an 8-4 run over three-plus minute span to cut the lead to two, 17-15, with 5:44 remaining in the period.
 
Claflin went on a 10-5 run over the next four minutes to go ahead 27-20 with 1:17 left.  WSSU scored the final five minutes of the half including a buzzer beater by Colon to cut the deficit to two, 27-25, at intermission.
 
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