Fayetteville State and Claflin met on Saturday for a matchup of the top two teams in the CIAA Southern Division. Claflin was mere seconds away from securing the win but Ezekiel Cannedy saw things differently for Fayetteville State. The junior transfer from Johnson C. Smith, led his current HBCU to victory with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired giving FSU (13-6, 6-3)) a 67-66 win over Claflin (11-8, 5-4) in Orangeburg.
Cannedy led FSU on Saturday with 16 points, one of four Broncos who scored in double figures. Caleb Simmons chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds, while Myles Pierre added 15 points off the bench.
The top player in the game was Zion Obanla from Claflin. He led all scorers with 20 points, shooting a spectacular 8-11 from the field. Obanla is a former soccer player who put on a dazzling display of footwork in the paint, angling himself for efficient buckets in the paint.
As a team, Claflin shot 50 percent from the floor, a positive stat for the potential to win. But Claflin barely got to the free throw line in this game, which proved to be the difference. Fayetteville State was 17-20 from the line for the game, Claflin only shot six free throws the entire game, going 4-6 from the line.
Claflin led the game 59-50 after a Howvante Hutcherson dunk with 4:11 remaining, but the tide shifted at that point in favor of FSU. The Broncos engineered a 17-7 run to end the game and steal the victory. Claflin seemingly had the victory in hand when Jaelin Williams drove straight through the lane to hit a layup with 4.5 seconds on the clock, giving Claflin a 66-64 lead. However, Fayetteville State stayed on track and took the win on Cannedy’s three-pointer with 00:00 left for the 67-66 comeback win.
The CIAA schedule continues for Fayetteville State with a home matchup on Tuesday against Livingstone College. Claflin returns to a familiar HBCU matchup on Wednesday traveling to Benedict College, a former SIAC foe.