MORROW, Ga. — The Clayton State men’s basketball team used a 24-7 first half run to spark the Lakers to a 66-51 season-opening win over visiting Tusculum University Friday night at Mason Barfield Court.
CSU’s Elijah Dates scored a game-high 16 points off the bench including 14 markers in the first half as the Lakers (1-0) led 40-21 at the intermission.
The Clayton State duo of DJ Wright and Aaron Pitts scored 14 points apiece as the Lakers shot 49 percent in the opening half.
Tusculum sophomore Bryce Jackson led the visitors with his first career double-double as he posted 14 points and a career-high dozen rebounds. Senior Akeem Odusipe tallied 13 points and seven boards, while Malachi Hale accounted for six points in the loss.
TU (0-1) jumped out to an early 7-4 lead thank to a Jackson triple and buckets from Duke Thomas and Zak Perdew.
CSU answered with seven unanswered points including a DJ Wright layup as the Lakers led 14-7 with 12:50 left in the first half. Hale buried a triple, but Clayton State went on a 24-7 run over the next nine minutes as the Lakers took its largest lead of the evening at 38-17 with 3:19 left in the half.
CSU led 42-21 early in the second half before Tusculum mounted a furious rally going on a 13-2 run over a span of 4:23 to trail 44-34 with 14:27 left. Jackson chipped in five points during the run including his second triple of the game.
Christian Chambers ended the TU run with his layup, but the Pioneers answered with a Jackson Owens jumper and a tip-in by Jackson as Tusculum trailed by single-digits for the first time since the 10:44 mark of the first period (20-12).
But the Lakers used an 8-0 run over the next 3:50 to push their advantage back out to 18 (56-38) with 7:17 left on the clock.
Tusculum would only get as close as 13 points down the stretch as the Lakers held on to secure the victory.
The Pioneers out-rebounded Clayton State by a 52-42 margin including 22-13 on the offensive boards resulting in 21 second-chance points. CSU forced 20 turnovers and limited TU to 20-of-66 shooting (30.3%) including 5-of-26 (19%) from three-point territory. Tusculum also shot 6-of-14 from the free throw line (43%).
Defensively, the Pioneers forced 11 turnovers and recorded six blocked shots including two each by Jackson and Odusipe.
The Pioneers will close out their trip to Morrow, Georgia on Saturday when they face Chowan University at 1 p.m. at Barfield Court.
