Box Score
FORT VALLEY, GA (February 24, 2014) – The Fort Valley State University Wildcats (18-7; 14-2) clinched the first men's SIAC Eastern Division Basketball Title and will enter the SIAC Basketball Tournament as the number one seed from the East with their 81-66 win over Claflin University (10-18; 7-11) on Monday.
FVSU placed three players in double digits, but senior forward
Nigel Domineck (Atlanta, GA) would lead the Wildcats with a game-high 21 points and game-high eight rebounds. Domineck scored on 9-of-14 shots from the field, made 3-of-4 free throws, three assist, four steals and two blocks. Senior forward
Corey Hunter (Cincinnati, OH) added 19 points and senior guard
Joshuah Davis (Augusta, GA) 16 points. Senior point guard
Anthony Bell finished with a game-high nine assist.
Kendall Jackson led the Panthers with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Adolph Caldwell had 14 points, Brandon Curry 11 points and Quinton Nance 10 points.
Davis had seven points in the first half for FVSU and Claflin's Caldwell and Jackson scored seven points. The Panthers went to half up 35-33.
FVSU scored on 50.0 percent of their shots in the first half and Claflin 41.4 percent from the field, while making 7-of-8 free throws.
FVSU made 33-of-63 shots for 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 68.4 percent in free throws while making 13-of-19 shots. Claflin scored on 21-of-52 shots from the floor for 40.4 percent and 16-of-21 fouls shots for 76.2 percent.
The Panthers scored the first five points and jumped out to a 21-16 lead with 7:25 on the clock, but sophomore center
Ralph Wilson tied the game 21-21 with 5:49 left. Claflin's Montel Williams 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 35-31 lead. FVSU's Domineck's layup with .17 seconds left cut the lead to 33-35.
In the second half, Domineck tied the game at 35-35 and the Wildcats never looked back. Davis made a free throw the 6:55 mark to give FVSU a 67-55 lead. Sophomore guard
LeRoy Broner (Brunswick, GA) had a layup to increase the lead to 81-63.
FVSU grabbed 37 rebounds to Claflin's 29 and scored 58 points to Claflin's 14 in the paint, 32-to-15 points off turnovers, 19-to-4 points on second chance shots and 18-to-4 points off fast breaks. The Panthers received 66 points to FVSU's 32 from bench players.
FVSU have two remaining games left, before heading to Birmingham, AL in which they will open play on Wednesday of the SIAC Basketball Championship. The tournament is scheduled for Monday-Saturday, March 3-8.
The Wildcats will play Paine College in Augusta, GA on Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 and Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA on Saturday, March 1 at 3 pm.
Watch LIVE STATS of both games by going to www.fvsusports.com .
