In a battle for first place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's East Division, Clark Atlanta fell in the last second on an alley-oop layup that gave Albany State a 63-62 victory Monday in L.S. Epps Gymnasium.
The loss for Clark Atlanta (11-14, 11-6 SIAC) ends a four-game winning streak and leaves the Panthers just percentage points behind Albany State (14-11, 11-5 SIAC) in the SIAC East Division race. Albany State is in first with a .688 conference winning percentage while CAU is in second with a .647 mark. Albany State has also beaten CAU twice this season.
Albany State has three regular season conference games remaining while CAU ends their regular season with two games on the road – at Savannah State and at Fort Valley State.
Monday, Albany State jumped out early, getting out to an 18-6 lead after a Napoleon Harris jumper with 12:56 left in the first half. The Panthers got back into nine minutes later, pulling to within a basket after
Tyler Singleton's 3-pointer made it 23-21 with 3:48 left before the break.
After the lead remained at two – 28-26 – at halftime, Albany State outscored CAU 19-7 over the first eight minutes of the second half to get out to a 47-33 lead. Clark Atlanta went on a run of their own over the next four minutes, cutting the lead to four at 52-48 after
Shannon Smith's 3-pointer with 7:55 remaining.
Five minutes later, the Panthers took their first lead after
Romaine Thomas' 3-pointer made it 59-57 with 2:24 left. It stayed close as Thomas was fouled with 23 seconds left. He hit two free throws to tie the game at 61-61.
Singleton got a steal with three seconds left and was fouled by ASU's Mario Young. Singleton missed the first free throw but nailed the second to put Clark Atlanta up 62-61.
After a time out, ASU's Randy McClure took a lob pass and laid it in as time ran out and gave Albany State the win.
CAU out-rebounded Albany State 36-24 but turned the ball over 18 times and shot only 37 percent from the field. The CAU defense did force 17 Albany State turnovers, resulting in 20 points.
Singleton led Clark Atlanta with 18 points, four steals and three assists. Smith had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Thomas had 11 points and six rebounds, and
Javonte Sterling added eight points, four rebounds.
Malik Williams had ten rebounds for CAU.
Mario Young and Randy McClure both had 16 points for Albany State.
Clark Atlanta finishes out the regular season with a 7:30 p.m. game at Savannah State on Thursday, Feb. 20 and then a visit to Fort Valley State on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
