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Behind a combination of solid shooting and a stellar defensive effort, seventh-seeded Clayton State continued its magical run through the 2008 Peach Belt Conference Tournament with a 73-65 victory over third-seeded Georgia College at the USC Aiken Convocation Center on Saturday. Clayton State improves to 16-14 overall, and the Lakers advance to the PBC title game for the second straight season. Clayton State will meet the winner of the North Georgia/USC-Aiken semifinal winner on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the USC Aiken Convocation Center. “These guys have felt all year long like we could beat anybody, now I think they know they can,” said Clayton State head coach Gordon Gibbons. “Our team is feeling confident right now and I expect us to play very well tomorrow.” Georgia College came into the game averaging 80 points a game and led the Peach Belt in 3-point field goal shooting at 42 percent. However, Clayton State’s suffocating defensive pressure held the Bobcats 15 points under their scoring average, and only 9-for-33 (27 percent) from 3-point range. However, behind 15 points from junior guard Shaun Keaton, Georgia College held a 30-27 lead at halftime. In the second half, however, Clayton State caught fire. The Lakers opened the second half on a 17-4 run to take a 10-point lead. Bernard Fields twice penetrated and fed forward Brian Kelly with easy lay-ups, and then consecutive 3-point baskets by Tracy Williams and Will Lewis stretched the Laker lead to 40-34 with 14:28 remaining. Michael Sloan then scored a lay-up in transition off a Georgia College turnover to give Clayton State a 44-34 lead with 13:34 remaining. With its perimeter game not effective, Georgia College cut the Laker lead to one point 53-52 with 7:10 remaining. But Clayton State answered as Fields converted a lay-up off two offensive rebounds at the 5:40 mark, and then a big 3-point basket by Williams as the shot clock was winding down pushed the Laker lead back to 10 points, 63-53 with 3:23 remaining. “We were able to do what is really our strength – hold a team that averages 80 points a game and keep them in the high 50s until the final minutes,” Gibbons said. “We didn’t have a great first half, but we played extremely well in the second by setting the tone in the first part of the second half.” Georgia College never cut the lead lower than eight points as Clayton State made 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Williams was big again for Clayton State with 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the free throw line. Kelly recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Sloan scored 13 points and Ricky Garrett added 10 points off the bench for Clayton State. For the game, the Lakers shot 48 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 79 percent (22-for-28) from the free throw line. For Georgia College (20-9), Keaton scored 22 points on four 3-point baskets, while senior center Aaron Clark scored 13 points. |
AIKEN,
S.C. – March 8, 2008 –