ORANGEBURG, SC – The Fort Valley State University Wildcats (11-11; 8-6) went Panther country and came out with a huge SIAC East Division 69-58 win over Claflin University (17-4; 10-3) Saturday evening at the Jonas T. Kennedy Health Physical Education Center on Claflin's campus. This marks the second meeting between the two teams with the Panthers winning December 2^nd in Fort Valley 65-53.
 
Walter Foster led the Wildcats in scoring with a game-high 16-points and seven rebounds while making seven baskets from the floor, hitting 2-of-3 free throws, blocking two shots and having four steals. Glenn Hollaway came off the bench to lead FVSU with a game-high 9 rebounds, seven-points and went 3-for-3 from the field. He also made 1-of-2 foul shots and blocked one shot. Jaylon McMillan added 11-points, Jamaal Garror chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, while J. R. Bryant led all players in assists with seven, scored six points and grabbed six boards. Trey Elliott played 16 minutes and scored all nine of his points from behind the arc.  
 
The Panthers forced the Wildcats to turnover the ball 18 times leading to 22-points. Claflin outscored FVSU 32-24 in the paint and 11-7 on second-chance shots, but FVSU outscored Claflin 22-13 from the bench.
 
Benjamin Williams and Austin Lawton scored 15-points apiece for Claflin, while Austin grabbed seven rebounds.
 
FVSU scored the first four points in the first half before Claflin tied the game at 4-4 with 17:53 on the clock. The Wildcats went on a 13-0 run to take a 17-4 lead with 11:54 left. Elliott's three-pointer then gave the Wildcats a 21 (31-10) lead with 5:40 left before halftime. Claflin's Benjamin Williams' free throw and FVSU's McMillan's 3-pointer with two seconds left sent the Wildcats to the locker room up 44-28.
 
After the halftime break, the Panther scored the first four points to close the gap to 32-48. The Wildcats went scoreless for the first three minutes in the second half before McMillan made a layup to up the score 50-32. After a media timeout (7:09) Barnes' free throw gave the Wildcats a 59-45 advantage. The Panthers Tondric Johnson cut the lead to 11 (67-56) with 1:38 left. With 1:15 remaining on the clock, the Panthers scored off a Wildcat turnover cutting the lead to single digits (67-58). Barnes' layup closed the scoring for FVSU with 19 seconds on the clock.
 
 
The Wildcats are back in action Monday, January 29 in Columbia, SC to play the Tigers of Benedict College. Tipoff time is 8 p.m.