ATLANTA, GA (January 26, 2017) – Fort Valley State Wildcats (8-11; 6-4) basketball team lost a heart breaker 69-77 to Clark Atlanta (12-7; 6-2) as junior Jalen Crawford led the team with a team-high 22-points Thursday night at L. S. Epps Gymnasium.
 
FVSU went to half down 33-36. Crawford hit a 3-pointer at the start of the first half to make the score 7-3. The Wildcats maintained that lead for the first seven minutes and then increased the lead to 12-9. Anthony Williams tied the game at 12-12, but Crawford hit a jumper to move the Wildcats back out front by one.  Junior J. R. Bryant made jumper increased the lead to 16-13, then Chuka Eneh for the Panthers scored on a three pointer for a 16-16 tie. CAU went up by 12 with 4:43 left, then with .15 seconds to go, sophomore Chris Smoak made a 3-pointer to close out the Wildcats scoring for the half.
 
Senior Denard Williams jumper tied the score at 41-41 in the second half. The teams would trade blows until senior Ray Mobley's 3-pointer tied the game at 52-52 and junior Jamaal Garror two points gave the Wildcats their first lead 54-52 in the second half. FVSU increased that lead by four with 8:58 remaining. The Panthers took the lead at 69-66 for good at the 2:16 mark and Crawford's 3-pointer added the Wildcats last score.
 
Crawford scored on 8-of-21 shots from the field, hit four 3-pointers, 2-for-2 at the charity line, and had four boards, one assist and two steals. Senior Anton Hurst grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and six points. Senior Kris Bell added 12 points, five rebounds, while making 2-of-2 foul shots. FVSU out rebounded CAU 48-35, turned the ball over 16 times to 9, while the teams tied the game nine times and lead changed seven.
 
Tajai Johnson led the Panthers with 25-points and Sydni Davis had nine rebounds and 10 points.
 
FVSU will travel to play Tuskegee on Saturday at 3 pm (CST) in Tuskegee.