CLEMSON – JUCO transfer Darnell Porter tossed in 19 along with grabbing five rebounds, while senior guard/forward Jason Flagler chipped in 16 as South Carolina State fell short of an upset over No.18 Clemson 70-67 at Littlejohn Coliseum Tuesday.
The Tigers showed dominance in the first-half sparking an 11-2 run and jumping out to their biggest lead of the night 12, 20-8 off a tip-in by Milton Jennings at the 11:01 mark.
A lay up by Arsenio Williams cut the Clemson's lead to five, 34-29 with 3:27 left in the first-half.
Clemson led 41-30 at half-time.
Porter and a high-energy defensive effort, kept the Bulldogs in the game deep into the second half.
Clemson led by only two, 62-60, with 6:16 when a missed Tyvon Williams 3 would have given SC. State its first lead since early in the first half.
David Potter connected on a 3-pointer and put back a Demontez Stitt miss to give Clemson a 67-60 lead with 3:22 to play.
But Khalif Toombs' 3-point basket cut the Clemson lead to 68-65 with 45 seconds to play, and a Williams drive and lay-up cut Clemson's lead to 68-67 with 30 seconds left.
A pair of free-throws by Clemson's Demontez Stitt put them ahead 70-67 with 0:16 seconds left in the game.
Clemson held on for the win and improve to 12-2 on the season, while SC State dropped to 6-4.
The undersized Bulldogs (6-4) managed to out-rebound Clemson (30-27); hold the Tigers under 50 percent shooting (49) and limit start Trevor Booker to eight shots and 12 points.
SC State coach Tim Carter said his Bulldogs couldn't have executed their strategy any better, though he lamented the 7 of 15 free shooting.
“We just wanted to front [Booker] and decrease his touches,” Carter said.
“You can't get into an up-and-down game with Clemson because he will get a lot more touches. You have to decrease possessions.”
South Carolina State returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Charleston, SC to take on the College of Charleston in a 4 p.m. non-conference match up.
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