Austin Donaldson led five Panthers in double-figures with 21 points as Clark Atlanta University defeated Fort Valley State University 85-68 Monday night in L.S. Epps Gymnasium.

The win is the fifth in the last seven games for CAU (9-9, 6-5 SIAC) and keeps them a half-game outside of second place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East Division.  Albany State is second while Morehouse is three games ahead in first place.

Fort Valley State (4-17, 3-7 SIAC) has now lost two in a row after win two straight.

FVSU kept things close in the first half, grabbing one-point leads three times in the game's first ten minutes,, the final time on Brenton Cliette Jordan's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 21-20 lead.  But the Panthers closed out the half outscoring FVSU 28-14 to go up 13 points – 48-35 – after Leon Marcikic's two free throws just before halftime.

Clark Atlanta never ceded the lead again, going up by as many as 21 after two Donaldson free throws with 11:45 left in the game.  Fort Valley State went on a 13-2 run over three minutes in the middle of the second half to cut the lead to ten points after Shawn Foxbrennen's jumper made it 64-54 with 8:11 remaining.  Jaylon McMillian's 3-pointer with 4:05 left kept FVSU within ten four minutes later at 71-61.

But Jalen Mitchell hit two 3-pointers and Donaldson added a layup during the next two minutes to put the Panthers back up by 18 to put the game away.

Donaldson led CAU with 21 points, along with four rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal. Mitchell had 19 points, five rebounds, six assists and two blocks, while Romaine Thomas had another double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds, along with three assists.  Thomas is the SIAC's second-ranked rebounder with 8.7 per game.

Shannon Smith had his biggest game of the season with 13 points, while the SIAC's third-highest scorer, Shelvick Henry who averages 17.2 points per game, finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, a steal and two assists.

McMillian, the conference's second leading scorer, had a huge game for FVSU, finishing with 30 points.

The Panthers now turn their attention to the big Atlanta University Center rivalry game with Morehouse on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. in L.S. Epps Gymnasium.  It will also be a big chance for CAU to chip away at Morehouse's three-game lead in the SIAC East Division race.   The Morehouse-CAU game will be preceded Saturday by the Clark Atlanta women's game against Carver College at 4 p.m.  General admission tickets for a big day of basketball will be $15.