title image via Fort Valley Athletics
Courtesy of Fort Valley State Athletics
79
Winner Clayton St. 3-4,0-0 Peach Belt
69
Fort Valley St. 1-9,1-3 SIAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton St. | 31 | 48 | 79 |
| Fort Valley St. | 39 | 30 | 69 |
The Wildcats found the gas pedal and finished the opening half fast, but they couldn’t keep the new found lead over the final 20 minutes Monday night. Fort Valley State scored 20 of the final 23 first-half points for an eight point lead, but visiting Clayton State bounced back to win the second stanza and the men’s basketball game, 79-69.
Trailing 28-19 with 5:05 left in the first 20 minutes, FVSU (1-9) scored the next 13 points for its largest lead, 32-28, at 1:43. The home team made it a 20-3 run as Myson Lowe pumped in 13th-point of the outburst with a final trey at 23 seconds for a 39-31 intermission advantage.
Khadim Samb picked up the opening second-half bucket for FVSU to give it the largest lead of 10, 41-31, only 28 seconds in. Clayton State answered with its biggest push of 14-2 over the next 5:34 to edge back in front, 45-43. Pierre Mitchell sank a pair of free throws to put FVSU ahead for what would be the final time, 53-52, at 9:33 before the game was tied at 55. The Lakers, though, put up the next six points and never trailed again for a 61-55 score at 6:14.
Michael Noulowe slammed home a dunk to pull the Wildcats to within three, 63-60, at 4:44, before the Lakers ran it back to a nine-point margin. FVSU made a final push as Lowe dropped his second 3-pointer for a 73-59 difference at 1:59 but it turned out to be his team’s final bucket. The Wildcats came up short on their final three shots from the floor while the Lakers added six points in those final moments for the final score.
Lowe hit 9 of 16 field goals with the pair of treys for a game-best 22 points in the tough FVSU loss. He also had three rebounds and two steals. Samb added 10 points, six boards and two steals. Jahlen Jack chipped in nine points, while Kenton Eskridge had eight points and five assists.
Travis Harper II paced Clayton State’s effort with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and nine rebounds.
FVSU will have four days off until it returns to SIAC play at home against Kentucky State on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 16) in a 3 p.m. tip.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | CSU | FVSU |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | .452 | .375 |
| 3FG% | .318 | .143 |
| FT% | .762 | .750 |
| RB | 46 | 38 |
| TO | 14 | 11 |
| STL | 9 | 11 |
