On this night, shooting was no problem, and there were no long scoring droughts. Four Tigers scored in double figures as Clemson rolled to an easy 79-45 win over Presbyterian.
John Newman III led all scorers with 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including 3-5 from beyond the arc. He also had 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Tevin Mack added 14 points, on 6-9 shooting, and Chase Hunter and Curran Scott both pitched in with 13 points.
Over half of the teams 67 shots came from three, and on this night they were hitting those shots. As a team they shot 46% from the field and hit 42% of their 3 point attempts. Quite the difference from the opener against Va Tech two nights ago.
Hunter and Newman III were both 3-5 from 3 point land, Mack was 2-3, and Scott was 3-7. Freshman Alex Hemenway, a 3 point specialist, was 2-2. However, Hemenway went down about midway through the second half with a leg injury. He could put no weight on it leaving the court and was in obvious pain. Afterwards he was on crutches with the leg heavily wrapped, all the way up to the knee. One thing this team really can’t afford is more injuries.
Tonight’s win leaves Brad Brownell just 7 wins shy of setting the school record for career wins (177), currently held by Cliff Ellis. Next up for Brownell and the Tigers, is Colgate, from the Patriot League. Tipoff set for 3 pm on Sunday afternoon in Littlejohn.
