By: FVSU Office of Sports Information
After capturing their first win of the season in their last outing, the 1-2 Wildcats of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) played host to the 2-4 Panthers of Claflin University on Sunday (December 11th) afternoon in the HPE Arena. The game was the third Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) contest for FVSU and the Wildcats were looking to stretch their conference record to 2-1.
After the first half of play, the Wildcats appeared well on their way to the win. FVSU jumped to an early 9-2 lead and maintained an edge throughout the first half. While their largest lead of the half was 13 points, the Wildcats, behind a 13 of 22 shooting performance, led at halftime, 29-21.
The Wildcats tried to carry the first half momentum into the second. With 14:14 left in the game, their lead inched forward to ten points, 37-27. A Kenneth Simmons three point shot at the 13 minute mark extended the FVSU lead to 40-27. Seconds later, he hit another three point shot and the Wildcats led 43-29. At the 11 minute mark, the FVSU lead was 45-32.
As the game approached five minutes left, the Wildcat lead had grown to 20 points. The 57-37 margin was the largest lead of the season for FVSU. While the Panthers made a charge at the lead, the Wildcats were able to rebuff the Panther surge and came away with a 64-53 win.
Corey Hunter led a balanced Wildcat offensive attack with 12 points and seven rebounds. FVSU got nine points from Brandon Davey; eight from Cecil Bent; seven from reservist Rashad Thomas; and six points from Desmond Lofland, Kenneth Simmons, and Kyle Cooper respectively.
The win gives the Wildcats an even 2-2 overall record and they are now 2-1 in conference play. FVSU returns to action on Tuesday (December 13th) at 7:30 p.m. (cst) when they meet the Golden Bears of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama.
-Wildcats Athletics-
