Box Score Austin Donaldson had 20 points as the Clark Atlanta University Panthers held off Lemoyne-Owen College 76-71 Saturday at L.S. Epps Gymnasium, giving the Panthers their ninth consecutive win.

CAU is now 14-1 this season, 8-0 and in second place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's East Division.

Lemoyne-Owen (4-10, 1-8 SIAC) jumped out to an early lead, getting ahead by as many as eight points midway through the first half.  But the Panthers had a 9-1 run midway through the half, culminating with a Jalen Mitchell 3-pointer, that gave them a 19-17 lead with 8:21 left before halftime.

The Panthers extended that lead to 33-28 at halftime. That lead grew to as much as 13 after Jamal Pollydore's 3-pointer with 15 minutes left in the game gave them a 48-35 lead.  But Lemoyne-Owen had another run left in them.

The Magicians eventually cut the CAU lead to one – 61-60 – on Martez Briggs' 3-pointer with 6:05 remaining. The Panthers then turned up the pressure defense, leading by as much as eight points down the stretch to get the win.

Donaldson finished with 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals. Mitchell finished with 16 points, two rebounds and three assists.  Akil Douglas had 11 points and four rebounds, while Michael Vigilance added ten points, three rebounds and an assist. Anthony Williams had nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

Lemoyne-Owen was led by Reshun Ellis's game-high 27 points.

"I thought that Akil and [Damien Davis} on the press really bothered them, and we were forcing turnovers, allowing us to get out in the open court and get some threes and some layups," said CAU head coach Darrell Walker.  "No doubt in my mind that it was the press that bothered them.

"Overall, it was a pretty solid game for us," Walker said.  "There are some things we have to work on, especially defensively.  We've got to stay with it.  Even though we held this team to 28 points in the first half, we gave up 43 in the second half, so I'm a little bothered by that.  But there are ebbs and flows in the game, so we just have to keep working."

The Panthers are back on the court next Saturday when they visit Albany State University at 4 p.m. on Jan. 13.