MORROW, Ga. – The # 17 Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes were looking to rebound from their PBC opening loss to Montevallo earlier this month. They would take on another one of the PBC's top scorers in Teondre Williams and the Clayton State Lakers in Morrow on Wednesday night. The game between division rivals would become a barnburner as Clayton State (7-1, 1-0 PBC) would edge out the Hurricanes 85-84 in double overtime.
Evan Mobley led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, which included numerous clutch three-pointers and lay-ups in both overtimes. The senior from Savannah also tallied six rebounds and three assists. Phillip Brown would post 21 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks in the loss.
In the losing effort, GSW shot 42.2% from the field and won the rebounding margin by 16 rebounds. They would be plagued by 21 turnovers in the game, which translated into 24 Laker points off those turnovers.
Williams led the Laker offense with 20 points. Williams was subdued by Marlon Rivera who gave up eleven points in 14 minutes in the first half. However, Rivera held Williams to nine points in 28 minutes played after halftime. He was supported by Andrew Bachanov (16 points and eight rebounds) and Anthony Salter (15 points).
The game featured a Williams versus GSW pace early as the transfer from Oregon scored CSU's first nine points. His three three-pointers gave the Lakers the early 9-8 lead going into the game's first media timeout. Early offensive execution for GSW was spotty, but Phillip Brown made up for it with his hard work on the boards. The senior from Jonesboro cleaned the offensive glass, made free throws and blocked shots to keep the game close in the first ten minutes.
Clayton State would ride hot three-point shooting to their 36-28 halftime lead. The Lakers shot six of twelve from beyond the arc. The home team was led by Teondre Williams with eleven first half points despite sitting much of the time with two fouls. Teammate Andrew Bachanov would chip in nine points of his own while grabbing four rebounds.
Phillip Brown tallied nine points, ten rebounds and two blocks in the first frame. Evan Mobley and Jamon Hawkins each scored five points in the half in support of Brown.
GSW trailed by eight at half despite out-rebounding the Lakers 24-16 and converting nine of thirteen foul shots. This was stymied by their 8-28 shooting and ten turnovers in the first half.
A 9-4 Clayton State run in the first five minutes to open the half capitalized on mediocre GSW defense. This pushed the Laker lead to 13 points. Brown would continue to carry the load offensively and on the glass to keep the game from getting out of hand. The one-man offensive show would be later supported by Colin Slotter. The duo would cut the Clayton State lead to two points with eight minutes to play.
The Georgia Southwestern offense wouldn't be able to take control of the game at that point. Their turnover plagued offense would give CSU a ten-point lead with 3:13 left to play. Back-to-back three pointers from Will Kenimer and Mobley would cut the lead to four points in less than 90 seconds.
Georgia Southwestern would grind the game down as Clayton State missed a late free throw. Kenimer would catch a pass, pump fake and fire a jump shot to tie the game. Kenimer's foot was just inside the arc, which ended the on-court celebration from the Hurricanes and forced overtime.
The first overtime period would see-saw back and forth. Teondre Williams would tie the game at 76 with his 16th and 17th points with 37 seconds remaining. GSW would turn it over on the following in-bound pass. Williams would miss a contested three-point shot. Mobley would rebound and miss a half court heave as time expires to send the game to double overtime.
The back and forth pace of play would continue in the second overtime as Anthony Salter answered a Evan Mobley lay-up with one of his own with 2.2 seconds left in the second overtime period. Mobley would toss a desperation half court shot that would miss right as time expired.
The loss puts the Hurricane record at 6-2 (0-2 PBC). They will look to right the ship against Clearwater Christian on Friday, December 16th at 12 p.m. in the Storm Dome.