Romaine Thomas had 18 points as Clark Atlanta won their fifth game in a row, defeating Kentucky State 69-62 in Frankfort, Ky., Monday.

The five-game winning streak is the team's longest since the Panthers won 15 straight games during the 2017-18 season.

Clark Atlanta (6-9, 6-1 SIAC) now sits in first place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's East Division, just ahead of Albany State.  Kentucky State falls to 6-8, 3-4 in the SIAC.

Trailing 36-27 at halfime, Kentucky State twice pulled to within four points in the first three minutes of the second half, the second time on Grant Goode's basket that made it 38-34 with 17:20 remaining. But that was as close as the Thorobreds would get.

A 23-9 CAU run over the next nine minutes – capped by an Elijah Stewart layup – gave the Panthers a 61-43 lead that proved too much for Kentucky State to overcome.

The Panthers' defense held Kentucky State, the SIAC's highest-scoring teams in all games played this season, to 14 points under their season average of 76.7 points per game.   Clark Atlanta also forced 22 turnovers, had 13 steals and ten blocked shots.

Thomas, the SIAC's fifth-leading scorer heading into the game, finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Tyler Singleton had 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.  Stewart added 13 points, while Colin Bell had a team-high nine rebounds along with six points. Malik Williams had eight points.

Jordan Little led Kentucky State with 21 points and ten rebounds, while Goode finished with 20 points.  Shaq Athie had 17 rebounds and eight points for the Thorobreds.

Clark Atlanta returns to L.S. Epps Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they host Fort Valley State at 4 p.m.
 
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