Season ends for Clayton State men in Peach Belt Conference quarterfinals
Fields scores 15 points as Lakers conclude 2008-09 campaign at 15-14

AIKEN, S.C. – March 6, 2009 – The chance to repeat as Peach Belt Conference Tournament champions and advance to NCAA Division II National Tournament for a third straight season came to a disappointing end in the PBC Tournament quarterfinals for the Clayton State Laker men’s basketball team.

The Lakers gave a tremendous effort against 17th-ranked USC Aiken, but the offensive struggles were too much as Clayton State dropped a 60-50 decision on Friday at The Convocation Center. The defeat concludes the Lakers’ season at 15-14 overall.

"We struggled a lot this season to score, and it was evident tonight against a very talented USC Aiken team," said Clayton State head coach Gordon Gibbons. "That part is disappointing. But the fight in these guys has been and is there. This team is as good or close too our best defensive team in the eight seasons that we’ve been here."

The offensive struggles were evident for Clayton State. The Lakers managed only 31 percent shooting from the field, and only 18 percent shooting from 3-point range. In fact, Clayton State did not have a field goal for the first 11 minutes of the game, and trailed 12-1 before Will Lewis hit a baseline jump shot at the 9:07 mark.

However, that sparked a 15-2 Laker run. Lewis and Bernard Fields each drained 3-point baskets, and a turnaround jump shot by Lewis tied the game 16-16 with 2:24 left. A lay-up by Fields at the 1:27 mark tied the game again at 18-18.

However, USC Aiken (22-6) closed out the half with five straight points, including a controversial 3-point play with four seconds remaining.

The Pacers built an early 10-point lead in the second half, but the Lakers three times trimmed the lead to one point with a 16-5 run over a six-minute stretch. Brian Kelly’s lay-up off an offensive rebound trimmed the deficit to 32-31, and two free throws by Fields cut it to 34-33 with 12:07 left.

But USC Aiken responded. 3-point baskets by Casey McMasters and Kingsley Oguchi stretched the Pacer back to 10 points, and a lay-up by Cordaryl Ballard at the 5:08 mark gave USC Aiken a 49-38 lead.

The closest that Clayton State could get after that was five points. Ricky Garrett drained two free throws with 1:24 left to trim the Pacer lead to 55-50.

Fields concluded his Laker career pacing Clayton State with 15 points, while Lewis scored 12 points. Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Chris Commons paced USC Aiken with 17 points, followed by Oguchi with 12 points.