February 10, 2013 – ATLANTA – Jonathan Tassin scored a layup with nine seconds left that gave Morehouse a one-point lead then Andrae Nelson blocked a go-ahead layup with four seconds left, and the Maroon Tigers squeaked past the Clark Atlanta Panthers, 57-56.
The final scoring play was set up after a missed free throw by Jerrel Joye, which would have given the Panthers a two-point lead.
With 28 seconds remaining, Shawn Allen missed a contested jumper in the lane. CAU's James Arnold rebounded the missed shot, but fell out of bounds, giving the ball to Morehouse. On the inbounds, Allen passed to Andrae Nelson near the free-throw line. Nelson turned and found a wide open Tassin, who laid it in.
Despite having a timeout remaining, the Panthers rushed the ball up the floor. Jerrel dribbled past two defenders, spun into the lane for what would have been the winning basket, but Nelson extended his full 6'-6” frame and swatted the ball into the waiting hands of Austin Anderson who dribbled out the final seconds. The Morehouse fans, erupted in celebration.
In what can best be described as a character game, the Maroon Tigers passed the test and proved that their strangle hold on the conference lead is no fluke. The Tigers battled back from a six-point, lead late in the second half, with dogged determination and pressure defense.
Morehouse's version of the Big Three carried the scoring load in the season's only back-to-back game. Yesterday, Morehouse beat Claflin 78-49, at Forbes Arena.
Darrius Williams led the Tigers with his second double-double in two days. The SIAC's leading scorer posted 16 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and six assists.
Allen, coming off a 31-point effort Monday and 15 points yesterday, hit 7 of 13 shots, to finish with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Nelson recorded his fourth double-double of the season, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He only had two blocks and one assist, but those turned the tide for the Tigers.
Malcolm Frank had a respectable five points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists, but his biggest contribution was as the centerpiece of a Morehouse defense. The Frank-led Tigers forced multiple turnovers late in the game and held the CAU shooting guard to a 1 for 10 shooting effort.
Dwayne Bingham (17 pts.), Kevin James (12 pts.) and Johnnel Young (11 pts.) paced the Panthers who fell to 4-16 (3-9 SIAC).
The home game for the Panthers was originally scheduled to be played at Forbes Arena, but was moved to CAU's Epps Gymnasium after an on-campus incident involving a Morehouse and Clark Atlanta student. This was the first Morehouse-CAU game in Epps since the mid-90s.
Since then, all games have been played at neutral sites or at Forbes where the attendance averages about 4,000. Today's attendance was listed at 837. The two teams will meet again, February 23, at 3:30 p.m., in Forbes Arena.
The narrow win extended the Morehouse win streak to 14 games and matches the best winning streak since the 2002-2003 team, which won the SIAC championship and played in the NCAA tournament.
