TUSKEGEE, Ala. | The Tuskegee University men's basketball team came within just a few seconds of capturing their first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) victory of the season, however, Claflin was able to hold with a big defensive play at the buzzer to claim a 49-48 conference victory at Booker T. Washington High School Monday night.
 
Trailing by five with 3:44 to play, 48-43, Tuskegee (1-11, 0-3 SIAC) began to make their move to get back into the contest and it started with a lay-up to trim the deficit to 48-45 with 3:18 to play. Following a free throw by Claflin to extend the lead to 49-45, James Eads came back down the court with a lay-up and trim the deficit to 49-47 with 2:22 to play in the game – a field goal that would prove to be the last for either team in the contest.
 
The Golden Tigers' used a stifling defense to hold Claflin to just three field goal attempts in the final two minutes, and had a chance to tie the game with just two seconds remaining when Travis Flagg was fouled. The junior hit the back end of the two-shot foul, trimming the lead to 49-48 and a bad throw-in by Claflin's Ryan McNeill-Moses gave Tuskegee another opportunity.
 
However, Tuskegee could not get the inbounds pass in and Claflin was able to knock it away as the buzzer sounded.
 
A pair of players, Daniel Roach and Elijah McMillan, who had combined for two games this season prior to the conference matchup finished with a combined 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss. McMillan finished with nine points (on 4-of-7 shooting in just 26 minutes of action) and six rebounds. Roach, who was playing in his first game of the season, finished with eight points and a pair rebounds. Travis Flagg and Joshua Culver each finished with eight points, while Culver grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots.
 
The Golden Tigers finished the night shooting 32.1 (17-of-53) percent from the floor, which included 22.2 (4-of-18) shooting from beyond the arc. They also finished shooting just 55.6 (10-of-18) percent from the free throw line, while winning the rebounding battle 42-36.
 
Meanwhile, Claflin finished the night shooting 30.2 (13-of-43) percent from the floor, while hitting on just 1 of their 11 three-point opportunities (9.1 percent). They also connected on 56.4 (22-of-39) percent of their free throws, while forcing 20 Tuskegee turnovers.
 
McNeill-Moses and Austin Lawton each finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for Claflin (8-4, 3-1 SIAC), while Lawton blocked four shots on the night.  
 
Tuskegee returns to action Wednesday night against Benedict College, with tip set for 7:30 pm at Chappie James Arena. The game can be seen on the Tuskegee Digital Network.
 
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