Courtesy of Fayetteville State Athletics
56
62
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claflin | 33 | 23 | 56 |
| Fayetteville State | 37 | 25 | 62 |
On a night after celebrating its seniors, the Fayetteville State men’s basketball program defeated Claflin University 71-67 to improve to 12-3 in CIAA play and 6-3 in the Southern Division. The Broncos are 17-8 overall as Claflin drops to 6-19, 5-10 in the conference, and 3-6 in the Division.
Senior Darian Dixon (Bowie, MD), who opened the game with a dunk, led the game with 23 points. He had his second-biggest game of the season, shooting 8-14 in the paint and making 7-10 free throws. Dixon also finished with seven boards.
Cress Worthy was the only other Bronco to score double digits with 11 points.
Fayetteville State held a slim 37-33 lead at halftime. After a tied ballgame (49-49) with nine minutes left in the game, a pair of free throws by Dixon and another dunk gave FSU a 53-49 lead. The lead increased by six after two free throws by senior Zion Cousins(Washington, DC), who finished the game with nine points and seven rebounds.
Claflin cut the lead down to 57-55 with 3:51 left behind Donell Frayer’s back-to-back three-pointers. Frayer finished the game with 11 points as Allen Hatchett led the Panthers with 16.
The Broncos made six-of-seven free throws in the final two-and-a-half minutes to secure the victory.
Jalen Seegars, who finished with a game-high four blocks along with five points was recognized before the game with his 1,000-point ball. He reached the 1000-point plateau on January 29th against Saint Augustine’s. To date, Seegars has recorded a total of 1,084 points with 907 scored for the Broncos. After his two seasons with UNC Asheville, he accumulated 177 points.
