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South Carolina Falls to Rival Clemson 64-55
COLUMBIA, S.C. - South
Carolina (5-3) fell to intrastate rival Clemson (5-2) 64-55 in
non-conference action at Colonial Life Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Junior guard Brenton Williams led the Gamecocks with 16 points.
Two other Gamecocks registered double figures in the contest.
Junior guard Bruce Ellington scored 12 and freshman forward Mindaugas
Kacinas added 10. Freshman forward Michael Carrera and senior
forward Lakeem Jackson brought down six rebounds a piece. South
Carolina out-rebounded Clemson 36-29 and pulled down 17 offensive
rebounds.
Sophomore forward K.J. McDaniels led Clemson with 16 points and seven
boards. Sophomore guard Rod Hall registered 15 and senior center
Devin Booker scored 13 and tallied a game-high eight rebounds in the
contest. Clemson scored 23 points off of 19 Gamecock turnovers.
While adjusting to the physical play of the game, neither team
converted a basket until just before the first media timeout.
Kacinas hit freshman forward Laimonas Chatkevicius under the basket for
the Gamecocks’ first bucket of night and Hall drained a jumper on the
ensuing possession to give Clemson a 5-3 lead.
During an over four minute South Carolina scoring drought, the Tigers
went on an 11-0 scoring run to pull out to a 14-3 advantage.
Booker keyed the run for Clemson with back-to-back dunks.
Trailing 23-11, the widest margin of the first half, South Carolina
went on a 16-5 run to close the half. Just before the break,
Kacinas hit a pair of free throws and Clemson held on for the last shot
of the half. Hall could not connect and the Tigers took a
one-point lead into the locker room at 28-27.
After scoring the first points of the second half on baskets by
Williams and Jackson, the Gamecocks took their first lead since 1-0 at
31-30. The Tigers responded with an 11-2 run to recapture the
upper hand at 41-33. Kacinas halted the run with a 3.
With eight minutes to play, senior guard LaShay Page and Williams hit
back-to-back 3s to cut the deficit to single digits at 49-43.
Ellington drained a jumper with 4:10 remaining to bring South Carolina
to within four at 51-47, but the Gamecocks would not get any
closer. Sophomore guard Damarcus Harrison immediately responded
with a 3 for the Tigers and Clemson went 10-for-12 from the free throw
line down the stretch to hold on for the 64-55 victory.
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