Tigers Top Blue Hose, 79-58

CLEMSON - Trevor Booker scores 25 points to lead Clemson past Presbyterian.

BOX SCORE

Trevor Booker scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead undefeated Clemson to a 79-58 victory over Presbyterian on Friday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Terrence Oglesby added 12, while Jerai Grant had 11 and Raymond Sykes added 10 for the Tigers (7-0).

"We made a conscious effort to get the ball inside. Trevor played a huge part in that because he was able to get their big guy in foul trouble," head coach Oliver Purnell said afterwards. "Presbyterian had a good offensive plan, which made us get out of our pressure and play zone and we were able to contain them. Overall I am pleased with the win, we didn't play well but we had some spurts that helped us."

Al'Lonzo Coleman led Presbyterian (1-4) with 18 points but missed almost half of the first half after getting three early fouls. Bryan Bostic added 17 and Dominic King had 11 for the Blue Hose.

Clemson held a double-digit lead for all but a few seconds of the second half, and led by as much as 73-49 on K.C. Rivers' tip with 5:29 left.

Dominating the lane, Booker made 11 of 16 shots.

The Tigers shot 53.4 (31 of 58) percent from the field and held a 38-25 rebounding edge. The Blue Hose, playing their second season in Division I, shot 46.9 (23 of 49) percent.

The Blue Hose used a 14-5 run late in the half to pull within 36-32.

Clemson will next face Illinois on the road next Tuesday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

"It will definitely be a different test than we have had all year," Purnell added. "They are a higher caliber team and we have to be sure we take the lessons we have learned in these earlier games and use them against Illinois."