Clemson Basketball Extends Opening Season Win Streak Thanks to Late Rally

Clemson Men's Basketball team keeps their solid start going on Monday with a nice victory over North Dakota by a final score of 92-77. The final ledger hardly tells the story because the Tigers had to work for this victory.

It was a 27-16 run over the final seven minutes that proved to be the difference in a game that they could not afford to lose early in the year.

We have already seen so far in this very young season that some of the non-Power Four teams that have typically been easy wins for the larger schools have been a problem. Specifically, think about Valparaiso's upset win over the Purdue Boilermakers. Nobody is safe, and each and every game requires your best effort.

Two players who absolutely brought their best efforts were Chase Thompson and Liutaura Lelevicius. From the front court, these two dominated the paint and had a very efficient 42 points combined on the night.

Together, the two were 14-17 from the field and 5-7 from behind the arc. As they stand at 6'7" and 6'8" respectively, they are a huge matchup problem for any defense, and Monday night was one of their really solid performances together. 

The focal point of the Clemson offense came from their 6'10" center, Dylan Faulkner. he put up again an efficient 12 points, adding 6 rebounds and a team-high 8 assists as he facilitated the offense, and they ran it all through him. 

This game against North Dakota was a challenging early-season test as North Dakota brought a really powerful offense to the fight. They were fresh off a 93-point performance, and they stayed hot in this one.

For Clemson, this was a really nice win early in the season as they balance their way through their non-conference schedule. In terms of competition, it is up and down for the Tigers. 

They mix in some inferior opponents between teams like Georgetown, Auburn, Ole Miss, TCU, and Cincinnati. 

Each of those non-conference games precedes what they have coming their way in the ACC. The conference this season is absolutely loaded from top to bottom. It is going to be mission-critical that the Tigers take advantage of these non-conference games, and they cannot afford to stub their toe even once early on.

Next up for the Tigers is the contest against Georgetown on Friday night. The Hoyas are trying to turn the clock back to a national power. This will be a great test for the Tigers early in the season.