Justin Longstreet had a career-high 40 points as Clark Atlanta opened the 2021-22 season by defeating Valdosta State 112-106 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/Gulf South Conference Challenge in Fort Valley, Ga., Friday.

Clark Atlanta (1-0) beat a Valdosta State (0-1) team that won the Gulf South Conference's regular season and tournament titles last year and went to the NCAA regionals.

Friday, in CAU Head Coach Bo Bivens' first game, the Panthers jumped out to an early five-point lead after a Jalen Williams 3-pointer made it 7-2, and then Valdosta State eventually got a six-point lead after the Blazers' Maurice Gordon hit to free throws to make it 14-8.

But most of the half was tight, with 13 lead changes in the half.  Despite 17 turnovers in the half, CAU was able to pull to within one at the half when Vernice Seriale III hit a 3-pointer as time ran out to pull the Panthers to within a point at 51-50.

Chris Martin opened the second half with a layup to put CAU up 52-51. Clark Atlanta never gave up the lead after that. Longstreet then erupted for 26 second-half points, hitting 10-of-15 of his shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers.  His jumper with 11:06 remaining gave CAU their largest lead, 79-70, and culminated the Panthers 28-12 run to start the half.

Valdosta State whittled the lead down to two points three times in the final four minutes of the game, the final time with 2:42 remaining after Michael Cole's layup made it 100-98.   But Martin responded with a 3-pointer, and then two free throws a minute later to put CAU up 105-98 with 1:33 remaining, putting the game out of reach for VSU.

CAU hit 48.1 percent of their shots Friday, including 38.5 percent of their free throws.  The Panthers were also solid from the free throw line, hitting 24-of-29 of their shots from the line.  CAU also out-rebounded Valdosta State 59-45.

Longstreet, a 6' 4" senior guard from Ellenwood, Ga., finished 15-of-26 from the floor, including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers.  He hit all five of his free throws, and added six rebounds, and assist and a steal.  Longstreet's previous career high was 19 points against Tuskegee in December 2019.

He is the first CAU player to score 40 points or more in at least eight years. Akil Douglas scored 35 against Florida Tech in November 2017.

Martin, playing his first game for the Panthers, added 24 points, hitting 11-of-12 free throws, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out four assists and had a steal and a block. Williams had 19 points, had nine rebounds and made five assists. Rodney Simon, the Panthers' 6'9" center, finished with 14 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.  Simon was 6-of-8 from the floor.

VSU was led by Cam Hamilton who had 24 points.  Three other Blazers finished in double-figures in scoring – Maurice Gordon (17 points), Cam Selders (11 points), and Jacolbey Owens (10 points).
Clark Atlanta will play their second game in the SIAC/GSC Challenge on Saturday when they take on the University of West Florida at 3 p.m. That game can be seen live at
https://team1sports.com/fvsu/.