Men’s Basketball's Upset Bid at Clemson Falls Just Short

CLEMSON, SC – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team played a tight contest against ACC foe Clemson, coming up just short of an upset bid in a 65-60 defeat to the Tigers on Tuesday night.
 
Game Notes

• Saint Peter's (2-6) came out strong against the previously nationally ranked Clemson (6-2) squad, hitting four 3-pointers to take an 18-13 lead, its largest lead of the half.
• After Clemson went up 24-23 late in the half, Davauhnte Turner drained a turnaround jumper, followed by a deep triple from Cameron Jones to give the Peacocks a 28-24 lead.
• Clemson would eventually tie the game at 28 a piece heading into the break.
• Turner began the second half by converting a layup and completing the and-1 to give the Peacocks a three-point lead.
• Clemson would respond by tying the game on two more occasions before taking a one point lead, but Jones added another 3-pointer to regain the advantage at 37-36.
• The lead changed hands again when Clemson went up 43-39, but the Peacocks found a way to take control and gain a 45-44 lead following a Turner trifecta powered by holding Clemson scoreless for a stretch of 3:49.
• After losing the lead again, Turner found a cutting KC Ndefo at the basket who put home a layup while also getting fouled. Ndefo made the free throw to put Saint Peter's up one final time with five minutes to play.
• Down the stretch, the Peacocks erased a four-point deficit to tie the game at 56-56.
• Late in the game, Clemson took a five-point lead but the Peacocks continued to battle back, getting to a three-point deficit with 14.6 seconds left before falling 65-60.  

Inside the Numbers

• The three guards paced the Peacocks in scoring, led by Turner's 18 points, Jones' 13 points, and Dallas Watson's 11 points.
• The trio combined to hit nine 3-pointers in the game.
• Quinn Taylor grabbed a season high, 10 rebounds in the game to lead the Peacocks and freshman 7-footer Majur Majak swatted four shots.
• Despite the loss, the Peacocks played a very tight game with the once nationally ranked team, seeing the contest tied 10 times with 13 lead changes.
• Saint Peter's led for over 16 minutes while Clemson led for over 17 minutes, and the game spent six minutes knotted up.
• The largest discrepancy of the night came at the free throw line where Clemson took 30 shots compared to just six for the Peacocks.
• The Peacocks shot 60 percent (6-10) from behind the arc in the first half, the most efficient half of the season for the team.
• The six made 3-pointers also tied for the most made in any half this season for the team, matching the six made in the opening half against Lafayette in the season opener. 

Coach's Quotes - Shaheen Holloway

• "I thought we came out with a lot of energy. I just tried to tell these guys that you play how you practice and I thought that we had a good practice yesterday and I think that is why we came out and competed today."
• "I thought our zone helped us out really well. I also think that those few games that we lost at NC State and Auburn kind of helped us. These guys weren't intimidated; they came out ready to play."
• "Some guys stepped up. It was good to have [Davauhnte Turner] back being aggressive and having Cameron Jones back [from injury] is helping us a lot."
• Speaking on Turner's aggressive play and what he told him before the game: "I showed him a video of him being aggressive. I told him that this is how you have to play all the time. This is how the team needs you to play and when you don't do that, you are kind of being selfish. This is your last year and you have to play with that sense of urgency every single game… you have to play like that. In the first couple of minutes, he was a little shaky, I took him out and talked to him, and he came back out and just played. He made some big plays down the stretch."

Up Next

• The Peacocks put together a three-game series against the Northeast Conference.  
• The team will host LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, December 8, before playing at St. Francis Brooklyn (December 15), and Fairleigh Dickinson (December 19).