Clemson, SC
Clemson vs St Peter’s
Clemson gutted out an 65-60 win on Tuesday night as they took out St Peters inside Little John Coliseum. Brad Brownell’s squad had a hard time finding a rythym and continuity through out the contest. Missing uncontested shots and unable to quell the Peacocks 3 point assault.
Brownell Benched Senior leader Elijah Thomas for the first 10 min of the contest. Coach Brownell cited discipline reasons. He did not elaborate on the issue. Thomas did prove to be big in the game as his late game flurry and scoring along with a well timed block shot led the Tigers down the stretch and put them up by as 4.
In the first half it was Marquise Reid who led Clemson with great shooting from perimeter and 12 points followed by Shelton Mitchell and his 6 points.
Defense wise however the Tigers were being outplayed , with St Peter’s able to find Shots and bury three pointers with Jones leading the way for the Peacocks with 8 points.
Tigers went into the Half tied at 28- 28 .
The second half saw much of the same as the Tigers cannot separate from the Peacocks. Back and forth in a 1 to 2 point game all half. Unable to pressure the peacocks into mistakes. The Tigers can’t get into. Rhythm and the 2-5 Peacocks shooting and hitting when it counts most . St Peters team spent the evening hitting above 50% in three point attempts. This and the Tigers inability to get Sims and Skara on track offensively just was not allowing this Tiger team to gain any momentum.
Clemson’s inability to get the ball into Thomas at the post as well as its lack of production from the three point line have attributed to the close game. All that changed late in the 2nd half as in the last 4 minutes of the contest Eli Thomas would show up and impose his will on both ends in successive trips down the court. Getting separation from the Peacocks and forcing St Peters to start sending the Tigers to the foul line in the waining moments and sealing the deal here on a 65-60 Clemson win.
Clemson now at 6-2 on the young season gets the win but also may have lost leading scorer Marquise Reid to injury. As he was sent sprawling to the floor late in the game and was very obviously in pain and limping badly the remainder of the contest. A story line we will monitor closely in the upcoming days.
Post Game interviews With Coach Brownell and Clyde Trapp and Shelton Mitchell :
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