Men's basketball start of 2018 with a 94-85 win over Clinton College

In a game that was much closer than head coach Neil Dixon would have liked, the Louisburg Men's Basketball team won their Saturday afternoon matchup inside Roger Taylor Arena over Clinton College by a final score of 94-85.

"[It was a] very disappointing effort and execution today.  That's just not how we have practiced this week.  It would be easy to blame it on the long lay off, but everyone in the NJCAA has a lay off that's part of the deal," said Dixon of his team's play on Saturday.

Dixon continued, "With that being said, I'd rather learn from a bad win than a bad loss.  No time to hang our heads with three conference games this week, two of which are on the road.  We'd better get better. And in a hurry."

In a game that was very close for the first 30 minutes of play, the Hurricanes used a 10-0 burst midway through the second half to put some breathing room between themselves and visiting Clinton. The run came on the heels of a 5-0 Clinton run to knot the game at 68.

Jordan Oakley, who led all Hurricanes with 18 points on the afternoon, capped the run with a blocked shot and outlet pass to get a Jalen Gaddy layup on the other end and stretch the margin to 78-68.

The Canes were lead by Oakley, Lewis Freeman with 17, JD Wade and Marquise Riley with 13 and Jalen Gaddy's 11 points.

The win pushes the Canes to 9-3 on the season with three Region opponents coming up this week.