CLEMSON, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team played Clemson (2-0, 0-0 ACC) down to the wire at Littlejohn Coliseum on Friday night, coming up just short to a dagger 3-pointer with 19.8 seconds remaining that would go on to edge the Terriers, 76-68. Wofford was led by Messiah Jones with 16 points and five rebounds, followed by Max Klesmit with 10 points on the night, as the Terriers move to 1-1 on the season.
 
"We played hard enough to win, we just didn't play smart enough [eight assists, 14 turnovers]," said head coach Jay McAuley of Friday's outcome. "I was really proud of how we fought in the second half. We finally committed to moving the ball. It was just stuck all first half. I think guys were really anxious to get shots up and see balls go through the net at this stage."
 
Jones connected on 6-of-11 shots from the floor (54.5%), while finishing 4-for-6 from the charity stripe, while Klesmit shot 3-for-8 and finished a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
 
Junior Isaiah Bigelow followed with eight points, on 8-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line, three rebounds and two assists, as senior Ryan Larson finished with seven points and team-highs of seven rebounds and four assists.
 
"Some things didn't go our way tonight and that's going to happen again this year," added McAuley. "We've got to respond a lot better and those last two minutes, we got ducked in three times by their best player, fouled twice and didn't come up with a loose ball. That just can't happen. So we've got to learn, look ourselves in the mirror and grow and that's what this is for."
 
Keaton Turner finished with six points, three rebounds and an assist in 15 minutes off the bench, while B.J. Mack and Austin Patterson also tallied six points on the night. Mack finished with three rebounds, while Patterson hit two threes and recorded two steals in 16 minutes off the bench as well.
 
Morgan Safford finished with five points and four rebounds, as classmate Sam Godwin rounds out the Terriers' contributions on the night with four points and two boards.
 
Wofford finished the contest connecting on 21-of-58 (36.2%) shots and finishing just 21.7 percent from distance (5-of-23). The Terriers were steady at the free-throw line for the contest, though, knocking down 21-of-24 attempts (87.5%).
 
Trailing 47-44 after an 8-0 run by the 14:03 mark of the second half, sophomore Keaton Turner would give Wofford a brief spark off the bench in giving the Terriers their first lead of the night after burying a clutch three and converting a timely and-one finish at the line to boost a 52-49 lead at the under-12 media timeout (11:28).
 
"I just think he had some wiggle to him and he wasn't afraid to get in there," added McAuley of Keaton Turner's impact in the second half. "He made a couple big shots and that got his confidence and our team going."
 
"But then, as the half wore on, he and a couple other guards got a little bit too deep and we had some mistakes and rushed shots again. Just too many wasted possessions. They're a really tough team and good defensive team and they'll capitalize on that."
 
Clemson's Nick Tyson would knot the match at 52-all out of the break with a 3-pointer, though, sophomore guard Morgan Safford then drilled a trifecta of his own from the left wing to reclaim a 55-52 edge. A 5-0 spurt from the Tigers reclaimed the advantage (57-55), as both teams would trade free throws in the double-bonus over a two-minute span prior to Clemson's Al-Amir Dawes burying a trey to hold a 64-60 differential.
 
Wofford would knot the match at 66-66 after a pair of free throws from B.J. Mack, a big offensive board and finish from Messiah Jones and pair of free throws from Klesmit with 2:30 remaining to play. Senior guard Ryan Larson would convert a pair from the line to trail by one (69-68) prior to PJ Hall free throws holding a 71-68 cushion with 1:08 left in regulation.
 
On the ensuing possession, Safford found an opportunity for the equalizer on a corner trey that would come off the mark as Clemson brought it back up the court. Playing solid defense initially in the half court, Keaton Turner would nick a deflection, though, just narrowly missing the steal, as Clemson's Al-Amir Dawes would manage to corral the loose ball and bury a stepback 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to propel the Tigers to a 74-68 cushion with 19.8 seconds remaining at a Wofford timeout.
 
On the ensuing possession, Klesmit would be called for an offensive foul to turnover possession to the Tigers with 16 second remaining, as the Tigers' David Collins would seal the game with a dunk to ultimately allow Clemson to walk away with the 76-68 win at the buzzer.
 
Clemson finished the contest hitting 23-of-49 shots (46.9%) while nailing 42.9 percent of its looks from 3-point range (9-for-21). The Tigers had four finish in double figures, led by PJ Hall with 22 points and eight rebounds and followed by Al-Amir Dawes (13), Hunter Tyson (12) and Nick Honor (11).
 
Wofford outscored the Tigers in points inside the paint (28-24), second-chance points (14-4) and bench points (21-11), though, the Tigers won the rebound battle with a 37-31 margin.
 
"We've still got to have a 40-minute mentality," said McAuley of sustaining physicality throughout the game. "We had second-chance points, 14 to their four, but we left a lot of meat on the bone offensively. Transition, moving the ball … I think we're going to see that we left some of that on the table."
 
Wofford (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) returns to action on Monday, November 15, as the Terriers return to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in hosting Erskine for a 7 p.m. tip.