Box Score Jalen Mitchell had 16 points while Damien Davis added 14, but the No. 20 Clark Atlanta University Panthers fell just short against No. 9 Morehouse College 72-67 in the regular season finale Thursday.

Clark Atlanta (22-4 overall) ends the regular season with a 16-3 record in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, good for second place in the East Division.  The Panthers had already locked up the No. 2 seed in next week's SIAC Basketball Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.  Morehouse, 24-1 overall, won the East Division title and the No. 1 East Division tournament seed with their 18-1 conference record.

CAU entered the game with an opportunity to grab a share of the East Division championship with a win against their Atlanta University Center rival.

In front of a loud, capacity crowd of 6,000 people at Morehouse's Franklin Forbes Arena, the two teams again battled fiercely, reminiscent of their epic, three-overtime game two weeks ago at CAU which Morehouse won 97-96.

Thursday, the two teams went back-and-forth early, with Clark Atlanta taking a 20-18 lead on Michael Vigilance's basket 7:21 remaining before halftime.  Morehouse then went on an 8-0 run over the next minute to retake the lead, 26-20. Vigilance then hit a 3-ponter while Jamal Pollydore knocked down two free throws as the Panthers trailed by one, 26-25. Morehouse's James Walker then hit two 3-pointers and then got two more from Keyshaun Jacobs as they pushed the lead out to 40-30 with 1:31 before halftime.  Mitchell had a layup and Davis got a slam dunk just before the halftime buzzer as CAU went into the break down only six at 40-34.

Both teams came out running at the start of the second half, as Morehouse got a 3-pointer from Tyrius Walker and then a basket from Jordan Wallace to go up 45-34 four minutes into the half.  The lead grew to 17 points, 61-44 by the ten minute mark.

But CAU went on a 19-4 run over the next eight minutes, culminating with Shelvick Henry Jr.'s 3-pointer that pulled the Panthers to within a basket at 65-63 with 2:26 left in the game. But that was as close as CAU would be able to get as they missed three free throws with a chance to tie around the one minute mark while Morehouse hit their free throws to secure the win.

Mitchell finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals for CAU, while Davis had 14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Henry had 10 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.  Vigilance hit 3-of-4 of his shots – two of them 3-pointers – to finish with eight points, three rebounds, and a block. Anthony Williams had seven points, four rebounds, and an assist. Akil Douglas had seven rebounds while both he and Pollydore finished with six points each.

Morehouse was led by Tyrius Walker, who had 27 points.

"I thought we didn't we didn't come out and play a complete game," said CAU Head Coach Darrell Walker.  "I thought we got down, got embarrassed, and then we decided we wanted to play. We missed crucial free throws down the stretch and didn't make smart plays down the stretch, and when you do that, you lose against good teams."

CAU, the defending SIAC Tournament champions, goes into the tournament somewhat like last season when they lost at Morehouse, but won seven straight games – four to end the regular season and three in the conference tournament – to win the SIAC Tournament title.

"The drawing board is all clear now. It's 0-0," he said.  "It's time to get ready for the conference tournament. You have to get ready for the tournament. You have to be locked in.  It's one game at a time. This is a business trip.  It's like I told my guys last year. You take one game at a time knowing you can win the conference tournament. We're more than capable of winning it, so we just have to take our time to get prepared."