With an exciting 50-49 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Clemson Men’s Basketball team extends their season for at least one more game in the National Invitational Tournament. The 3rd seeded Tigers played in front of a sellout, wild crowd Sunday morning at 11 AM. Clemson lead for most of the game, taking a 28-19 lead into the locker room at half time. Illinois fought back, even gaining the lead late in the half. However, a Rod Hall layup with just under 10 seconds left gave Clemson the one point lead. Tracy Abrams of Illinois air balled a three point attempt which went out of bounds, giving Clemson possession. The situation looked all to familiar for the 10,000 orange and purple clad fans in Littlejohn, as Clemson lost in their regular season finale to Pitt off of an errant inbound in the same spot. This time, though, Demarcus Harrison threw the ball down the court. It barely missed the finger tips of center Landry Nnoko, but Rod Hall was able to chase the ball down and tap it inbounds, running the final seconds off of the clock. Clemson had twelve points and five rebounds from star forward KJ McDaniels, while Nnoko added eleven points and eight rebounds. The Tigers hosted the game as a lower seed to the Illini because Illinois’s arena is undergoing renovations. Clemson will now host the Belmont Bruins on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM. The Bruins come from Nashville, Tennessee. They have a 26-9 overall record, with a 14-2 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Belmont barely missed out on the NCAA Tournament by losing to Eastern Kentucky in the OVC finals. Belmont also defeated North Carolina in Chapel Hill 83-80 early this season. The winner of Tuesday’s game will be heading to the NIT Semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
