Claflin head coach Ron Woodard seemed disgusted as he left the floor at the end of the first half.

Despite his team having a 59-33 lead after the first 20 minutes of play, he wanted to make sure that the Panthers didn’t let up. Mike Jones and Eric Salley made sure that didn’t happen by leading Claflin to a 94-69 blowout victory against Fort Valley State.

Claflin (9-6, 9-5) came out firing in the first half. The Panthers played their way inside out, starting their offensive attack by utilizing Efe Odigie in the paint. Once Claflin got comfortable in the post, the jumpers from outside began to fall. The Panthers, who finished the first half with four players in double figures, shot 71 percent from behind the 3-point line. Their performance from long distance was part of the reason they were able to go on a 21-2 run for nearly six minutes.

“I’ve seen some maturity,” Woodard said of his players and their understanding of his offensive scheme. “I’ve seen us grow. When you go back and look over the games a little bit, I’ve seen us definitely grow. I’m just hoping we can continue.”

While Claflin displayed their ability to knock down open shots offensively, they showed the Panther faithful that they still relied on good defense as well against the Wildcats. The Panthers forced FVSU to commit 10 turnovers while they shot just 42 percent from the field. The end result of it all turned out to be a 26-point advantage at halftime.

Mike Jones put the Panthers on his back in the second half. The 6-8 senior forward out of Hopkins scored 11 of Claflin’s first 13 second-half points. Ultimately, Jones would finish with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

“Mike is a beast, man,” Woodard said. “He is a beast. I think that he has realized that he has to play on this level as well. I think it shocked him a little. Sometimes, Division I players think Division II is secondary per se, that you don’t have good athletes. I think it took him a minute to realize that we play basketball down here at this level, too, and he’s been coming hard.”

Eric Salley even got in on the act. The Panthers guard from Smoaks finished with 23 points, including a dunk that got the Panther fans on their feet.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats were still looking for answers to at least keep up with a Panthers’ offense that seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. Other than three players who scored in double digits for the Wildcats, the FVSU offense failed to find a way to keep pace with Claflin.

Woodard feels that the win could be a confidence booster for his team as they prepare to hit the homestretch of their schedule.

“All we want to do is keep winning, keep winning and put ourselves in a good place for the (SIAC) tournament,” Woodard said. “I want to be in first place, but I’m not concerned. I want to be in a good spot. We’re playing tournament play right now for positioning in the tournament. We’re looking for a good spot in the tournament.”

The Pantherettes’ woes continued on Monday evening at home.

In their last meeting with the Lady Wildcats, Claflin kept it close until the final buzzer. This time around, Fort Valley State made sure it wasn’t all that close as they dropped the Pantherettes 71-47.

Turnovers hurt Claflin’s chances early on. The Pantherettes had 14 miscues in the first half and those mistakes helped the Lady Wildcats go on a 17-2 run to take a 36-17 lead. Claflin did their best to close the gap by shooting 45 percent from long distance, but still trailed 41-29 at the half.

Claflin responded early in the second half with a 7-2 scoring spurt of their own, but Fort Valley State remained poised as they went on a 22-2 run that lasted about nine minutes to put the game away.

Takesha Riggs finished with a game-high 23 points for Fort Valley State while teammate Yasheeka Jones added 15.

Claflin’s leading scorer was Lesha Brigham with 15 points, while Ashley Sorrell-Gibson tallied 14 in the losing effort.

MEN

CU (94) — Mike Jones 23, Eric Salley 23, Anthony Pigram 15, Efe Odigie 12, Green 9, Bookman 6, McAlister 4, Wiley 2.

FVSU (69) — Kenneth Simmons 17, William Hayes 16, Darrell Aiken 11, Graham 6, Sledge 5, Caldwell 4, Stewart 3, Gill 3, McCall 2, Humphrey 2.

WOMEN

FVSU (71) — Takesha Riggs 23, Yasheeka Jones 15, Birdsong 7, Burgess 6, Freeland 6, Haynes 6, Andrews 5, Taylor 2, Rozier 1.

CU (47) — Lesha Brigham 15. Ashley Sorrell-Gibson 14, Barron 8, A. Jones 4, Albert 4, Lindsey 2.

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

 

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