Box Score Atlanta, Ga.---Senior Kevin James pours in his season-high 19 points to lead the Clark Atlanta University men's basketball team over the Maroon Tigers of Morehouse 71-66 in the second Atlanta University Center (AUC) Battle on the Hardwood at Epps Gymnasium on CAU's campus Saturday in front of a sell out crowd.

Clark Atlanta (16-10, SIAC 9-6) jumped out early and led by as many as 15 points to open the game before Morehouse (7-17, SIAC 4-12) went on a scoring spurt late that cut CAU's deficit to six points going into the half. The Panthers crushed the boards in the first period and used it to their advantage by scoring 12 second chance points.

The Maroon Tigers used that same momentum they gained to end the half to open the second period as they exploded on a 19-11 run to take their first lead of the game at the 10:26 mark. The competitve nature of these neighboring rivals were evident as the final 10 minutes of the game produced seven ties and two lead changes with either team leading by no more than three points until the final seconds. Clark Atlanta's James Arnold found the bottom of the net on two huge consecutive 3-ptrs in the crucial final minutes of the game. Wth the game knotted at 63 and 2:26 remaining, the Panthers went on an 8-3 run to close out the game. 

Both teams shot consistently from the free throw line CAU (15-of-19) and MH (12-of-18) while the Panthers held a slight advantage behind the arc shooting 53 percent compared to Morehouse's 31 percent. CAU edged the Maroon Tigers on the boards 32 to 27 led Earl Lawrence and James who pulled down a game-high six rebounds each. Arnold finished the contest with 13 points on 3-of-5 from three and, the Panthers got a huge lift off the bench from freshman guard Derrick Harper who added 15 points in his third consecutive game in double-digits.

Morehouse's Darrius Williams led all scorers with 29 points as the Maroon Tigers remained in last place in the SIAC EAST Division after tonight's loss.

With the win, Clark Atlanta moved back into second place in the SIAC East standings and will host Albany State Monday, Feb. 24th, at 8 p.m., immediately following the women's game at 6 p.m.