SPARTANBURG,
S.C. --- FEBRUARY 3, 2007
--- Coming off a tough home defeat against
rival Columbus
State on Wednesday, the big question on Saturday was how the Clayton
State Laker men’s basketball would respond to the challenge at USC-Upstate.
The response was strong.
Spearheaded by a season-high 25 points from senior guard Todd
McLaurin, the Lakers turned in one of their better defensive
performances in recent games with a convincing 74-49 rout over USC-Upstate
at the Hodge Center. Sixth-ranked Clayton State improves to 19-2
overall and 8-2 in the Peach Belt Conference heading into
Wednesday’s much-anticipated Peach Belt South Division showdown at
21st-ranked Augusta State.
“The guys recognized and responded what happened on Wednesday and
responded well today,” said Clayton State head coach Gordon
Gibbons. “They were ready to go. It was a great win on the road
and to come back and win here is tremendous.”
The Lakers did it with their defense against a good offensive team
in USC-Upstate. Clayton State put the clamps on the Spartans
defensively, limiting USC-Upstate to only 31 percent shooting from
the field, including 29 percent from 3-point range. This was the
same Spartan team that came into the game shooting 40 percent from
3-point range.
After there were a whopping 14 lead-changes in the first 10 minutes
of the game, Clayton State took control with a 17-4 run to close out
the first half.
Michael Sloan gave Clayton State a 26-25 lead with 4:36 remaining,
and the consecutive lay-ups by Aristide Sawadogo and Rod Venner
increased the Clayton State lead to 34-27 with 2:10 remaining.
Venner increased the lead to 10 points, and John Beugnot’s lay-up
off an offensive rebound gave the Lakers a 41-29 lead at halftime.
Clayton State shot 55 percent from the field in the first half,
including 42 percent from 3-point range.
“Finishing a half is what we’ve talked about recently,”
Gibbons said. “We’ve had some games recently where that hasn’t
happened lately. We got some good shots in the first half and made
them.”
The Laker defense took over in the second half, limiting USC-Upstate
to only 23 percent from the field, including 21 percent from 3-point
range. The closest the Spartans were able to cut the Clayton State
lead was 12 points.
Leading 50-38 with 11:59 remaining, Clayton State closed out the
game strong with a 24-10 run down the stretch. McLaurin scored 11
points down the stretch for the Lakers.
In addition to McLaurin, Rod Venner was tremendous off the bench for
Clayton State with 11 points and five rebounds. Sloan scored nine
points and Sawadogo added eight points. For the game, the Lakers
shot 41 percent from 3-point range and an impressive 85 percent
(17-for-20) from the free throw line.
For USC-Upstate (13-8, 5-5 PBC), Daniel Quinlan scored 23 points,
including 18 in the first half. Jeremy Byrd scored 12 points for the
Spartans.
The showdown between Clayton State and Augusta State is on Wednesday
at 7:30 p.m. in Augusta.
