Albany, GA- Darshtyn Baker scored a career-high 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Albany State Golden Rams to a 92-85 victory over the Clark Atlanta Panthers. With the win, ASU wins its second straight game and improves to 8-11 overall and 4-8 in the SIAC. CAU falls to 3-16, 2-10.
For the second straight contest, Albany State jumped out to a large early lead. With 11:05 left in the first half, Talonzo Edwards gave ASU its first double digit lead, 22-11, with a pair of free throws. Jeremy Whitmore connected on a three-pointer to increase the team's lead to 38-20 at the 6:04 mark.
A jumper by Larry Bullock as time expired sent the Golden Rams into halftime leading 48-34.
In the second half, Albany State continued to hold a large lead until Clark Atlanta started to chip away during an ASU cold spell. CAU was able to cut the lead to two, 74-72 with 3:25 remaining in regulation. The Golden Rams answered the challenge by making their free throws down the stretch to knock the Panthers out of contention.
Bullock finished with 13 points, Davetom Odom netted 12 and Elijah Jordan added 11. Jordan also recorded a career-high 16 rebounds.
The Golden Rams shot 26-for-54 (48.1%) from the field, eight-of-21 from three-point range, and 32-for-39 (82.1%) from the free throw line.
Albany State returns to action on Thursday, February 5 when they travel to face the Morehouse Maroon Tigers, who sit atop the SIAC East Division standings. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
