MORROW, Ga. - The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team suffered a 64-63 defeat Saturday evening against Clayton State University in The Loch.

GSW continues to struggle away from Americus with its road record dipping to 1-11 this season. The Hurricanes fell 7-16 overall and 5-11 in the Peach Belt Conference, while Clayton State won its third straight game and improved to 14-11, 9-7 in the PBC.

GSW shook off a pair of five-point deficits over the opening 20 minutes and rode an 11-2 run into the final minute of the half before Marquise Clark drained a 3-pointer for Clayton State with 25 seconds remaing to cut the GSW advantage to 35-30 at the break.

For the second consecutive game, the Hurricanes were unable to hold on to a halftime lead.

A scoring drought of nearly four minutes early in the second period allowed Clayton State to wipe out a seven-point lead for the Hurricanes and tie the game at 41-41 with 14:22 to play.

The game went back-and-forth over the next eight minutes until Alfonso Davis made a layup for Clayton State with 6:29 remaining to put the Lakers ahead, 54-53. GSW kept it close and pulled within a point after two Cameron Dozier free throws in the closing seconds. Clayton State missed a pair of free throws with six seconds left to give GSW one final possession, but the Hurricanes, trailing by a point, were unable to get a shot off and turned the ball over as time expired.  

Devin Watson and Tyrone Wooten scored 16 points apiece to lead GSW. Watson scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Dozier chipped in 12 and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

Davis finished with a game-high 19 points and team-best seven rebounds to lead Clayton State. Maurice White added13 points and Jaumonee Byrd scored 10.

The Hurricanes return home to host Georgia College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Senior Night ceremonies will take place prior to tip-off.