After falling behind by as many as 18 points, Clemson mounted a furious comeback to take down Davidson in a 68-65 thriller to win the Asheville Championship on Sunday in Asheville, N.C.
Joseph Girard III and PJ Hall each scored 17 points to lead Clemson (3-0) and RJ Godfrey added 10. Clemson shot 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) in the second half to storm from behind.
Davidson’s Grant Huffman scored seven of his team-leading 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Wildcats jumped out a 19-2 lead in the first half. They brought the margin to 23-5 soon after.
But the Tigers scored 21 of the half’s final 30 points to cut the deficit to just five points at halftime.
Connor Kochera scored four quick points in the second half as the Wildcats (2-1) grew their lead to 34-25 with just 18 minutes remaining. But five PJ Hall points sandwiched around two straight baskets from RJ Godfrey helped pull the Tigers within one point before Alex Hemenway gave his team the lead with his first of three made triples.
Clemson’s lead grew to as large as nine points on the back of multiple scoring runs, but Hunter Adams’ nine second-half points helped keep Davidson within striking distance.
While the Wildcats got the margin back to one point twice in the final 1:14, the Tigers fended them off to capture their third win in a row. Hall made two free throws with 21 seconds left to seal it.
Hall had 15 points and Girard scored 11 in Clemson’s 45-point second-half outburst. Hall, Ian Schieffelin and Godfrey all finished with seven rebounds, accounting for 21 of the team’s 31 boards on Sunday.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Friday as they travel to the Volunteer state to take on East Tennessee State. The Tigers will wait a week before returning to the floor as they host Boise State.
–Field Level Media
