Romaine Thomas and
Justin Longstreet combined for 30 second-half points as Clark Atlanta notched their first victory of the season, 74-71 over Lane Monday at L.S. Epps Gymnasium.
Both Thomas and Longstreet had 15 points during a second half for Clark Atlanta (1-7, 1-0 SIAC) where the Panthers held off Lane (3-3, 1-1 SIAC).
The Panthers twice erased seven-point halftime deficits to Lane, the second time after Thomas hit two free throws to cap a 7-0 run to make it 46-46 with 13:06 remaining. Thirty seconds later, CAU took the lead on Longstreet's layup to put the Panthers up 51-50.
That lead got up to as many as five, but Lane fought back, tying the game at 69-69 on a Henry Tyler 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining. Lane was down by just one after Edajh Fawkes hit two free throws with 25 seconds left to make it 72-71 CAU.
But free throws by
Tyler Singleton and Warren down the stretch sealed the win for CAU.
CAU dominated inside, outscoring Lane 32-14 in the paint while scoring 33 points off 25 Lane turnovers.
"I stuck with the rotations a little bit longer and that gave guys a chance to play through their mistakes," said CAU Head Coach
George Lynch. "Didn't start the first half well, We turned the ball over and I think they got off to an 11-2 start. I think our guys rely on their offense too much. In the second half of the game, at the end of the second half, we relied on our defense and our defense made easy plays for us offensively."
Thomas led CAU with his fourth double-double of the season – 21 points and ten rebounds. Longstreet had 17 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Tyler Singleton had 14 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Traylen Warren added 11 points, three rebounds and an assist.
Henry Tyler led Lane with 20 points while Edajh Fawkes had 18 points.
Next up for the Panthers is a Wednesday night matchup with the University of Montevallo in L.S. Epps Gymnasium at 8 p.m. CAU fell to Montevallo 84-76 on Nov. 14 in a game the Panthers led early before falling to the hot-shooting Falcons late.
