PJ Hall racked up 22 points and Hunter Tyson scored eight of his 20 points in the final six minutes as Clemson used a strong finish to defeat visiting Towson 80-75 on Wednesday night at Clemson, S.C.

With the contest tied at 66-66 with 4:44 to go, Clemson closed the game between two teams nicknamed Tigers on a 14-9 stretch.

Alex Hemenway’s 15 points and Chase Hunter’s 14 points were also keys for Clemson (8-2).

Tyson’s three-point play came as part of a 5-0 run that gave Clemson a 71-66 edge with 3:31 remaining. The margin reached nine points before a couple of late Towson baskets.

Nicolas Timberlake led Towson (8-2) with 21 points and Cameron Holden posted 18 points. Ryan Conway notched 14 points and Charles Thompson had 11 points, but Towson’s 41.8-percent shooting from the field wasn’t enough to keep up with Clemson’s 53.8-percent rate.

Hall, who continues to make huge impacts as he gets extended playing time after an offseason injury, shot 10-for-17 from the field and Tyson pulled in 14 rebounds.

It’s a good thing that Clemson found a 3-point shooting stroke because it needed those long-range shots. Clemson ended up with 14 baskets from 3-point range compared to 28 buckets on 2-pointers. Tyson and Hunter both made four 3s.

Clemson was hurt by 13 turnovers, while Towson had seven giveaways. Both teams shot 10-for-15 on free throws.

Yet it was a clutch outcome for Clemson, which was coming off victories last week against Penn State and Wake Forest.

Clemson took its first lead in about 13 minutes of game time when Hemenway drained a 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark of the second half.

Towson broke out to a 43-39 edge early in the second half and stretched it to 48-41. Clemson didn’t catch up until pulling even at 61-61 on Hunter’s 3-pointer with 7:29 to play.

Clemson led 37-35 at halftime.

The only other Towson-Clemson meeting came 35 years ago when Clemson won at home.

–Field Level Media