Raleigh, NC. – The Saint Augustine's men's basketball team lost its fifth straight CIAA contest to the Claflin University Panthers in a tough last-minute heartbreaker. The Falcons were down several players, including true freshman, Nemo Johnson, but managed to gut out an inspiring performance despite being short-handed. After trailing at the half 30-26, the Falcons jumped out the second half going on a 14-2 run to take its first lead of the game 40-37. SAU extended its lead to 10 (47-37), but the experienced Panthers crawled back and eventually took the lead with just over three minutes remaining. Missed free throws by the Falcons and a late turnover sealed the victory for the Panthers as it took the game 56-51. The loss dropped the Falcons to 5-11 on the season, and 2-6 in conference play. 

Jaylen Richard led the Falcons in scoring with 17 points.

Head Coach Chucky Brown's Postgame Comments

"It was a tough game. I agree with Chris (Hill), this was one of our better defensive performances helping one another out. There's some self-inflicting things that wd did -- missing the free throws -- that's too many free throws to miss against a good team. The turnovers late, you know we had turnovers, but the turnovers that was late really hurt us, and they made us pay for that."

UP NEXT

• The Falcons will travel to Salisbury to take on Livingstone College Thursday, Jan. 26
• Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM ET 

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