ORANGEBURG, S.C. | Freshman
Daniel Roach recorded a career night from the floor and led three players in double figures for Tuskegee University, but it wasn't enough as the Golden Tigers fell to Claflin University 72-61 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play Monday night at Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center.
Roach scored a career-high 18 points, the first time the freshman has reached double figures in his collegiate career – besting his previous high of eight points against Montevallo (11/20/15). He connected on 6-of-14 shots from the floor, including hitting 4-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Camden Foster chipped in 11 points and six rebounds, while
James Eads finished with 10 in the loss for Tuskegee (6-5, 2-2 SIAC). Senior point guard
Kevin May finished with seven points and seven assists on the night for the Golden Tigers.
Tuskegee fought their way back from a 14-point halftime deficit, tying the game at the last media timeout before Claflin hit one of their two three-pointers in the game on a desperation heave from near mid-court as the shot clock expired. That basket swung momentum back to Claflin (5-8, 1-4 SIAC), who scored 23 points off of 18 Tuskegee turnovers.
The Golden Tigers finished the night shooting 39 (23-of-59) percent from the floor and 27.3 (9-of-33) percent from beyond the arc. They also got to the line just 14 times, connecting on 50 (7-of-14) percent of those shots.
Meanwhile, Claflin was led by Austin Lawton with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryan McNeill-Moses added 17 and Karee Watson 10 in the win for Claflin (5-8, 1-4 SIAC).
The Panthers finished the night shooting 43.9 (18-of-41) percent from the floor and just 28.6 (2-of-7) percent from beyond the arc. They also reached the line shooting 47 free throws, and connecting on 72.3 (34-of-47) percent from the line in the win.
Tuskegee travels to Augusta (Ga.) to face Paine College Monday night at 7:30 pm (est) in the final game of a three-game road swing to open 2016.
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