Fair and 81° F

The Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center and Jonas T. Kennedy Center will house three college basketball games tonight.

Claflin University will play host to a doubleheader against Kentucky State starting at 5:30 p.m. with the women's game. The two schools faced each other exactly two weeks ago in Frankfurt with both Claflin teams emerging victorious.

While the Lady Thorobreds (3-3) have won two straight since that setback, the Pantherettes (3-1) looking to rebound from its first loss of the season suffered Sunday at Johnson C. Smith by a 58-40 count. It was part of a back-to-back stretch for Claflin which nearly 18 hours earlier held off Clark Atlanta University 57-52 led by Latoya Savage's 14 second-half points.

Prior to Sunday's loss, Orangeburg-Wilkinson graduate Jayshaun Bailey had averaged a double-double in each of the victories. The Pantherettes have also received contributions from newcomer Donisha Albert of Swansea and guard Ashley Sorrell-Gibson.

About 30 minutes following the start of the Claflin/Kentucky State women's game, the SCSU men will tip-off against Savannah State. Coming off a dramatic 89-88 victory over Virginia Military Institute, the Bulldogs (3-5) look to extend their winning streak to three games while sending the Tigers (5-6) to their third consecutive defeat on their six-game road trip.

SCSU head coach Tim Carter can only hope his team can show better execution than he witnessed this past Tuesday against the Keydets. From players taking unwise shots to the continued problem of turnovers (four players have accounted for 25 or more turnovers each this season), Carter was critical of the team's "immaturity" against VMI and vowed to start benching players in order to get their attention.

Freshman Carrio Bennett is the only Bulldog player averaging in double figures at 10.6 points per game. Savannah State's leading scorer is also a freshman guard in Anthony Jones, who scored a career-high 21 points in a 68-58 loss to Northwestern on Dec. 1.

WSSB 90.3 FM will carry the action live from S-H-M.

At around 7:30 p.m., the Claflin men's basketball team will close out the doubleheader at Jonas T. Kennedy against the Thorobreds (2-2). The Panthers (4-1) are riding a three-game winning streak and look to sweep its three-game homestand against a Kentucky State team which was routed 92-55 by Benedict on Dec. 1.

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