Clemson Men’s Basketball: Tigers down Bellarmine, 76-66

Clemson Men’s Basketball moved to 3-1 on the season with a hard fought 76-66 win over Atlantic Sun member Bellarmine on Friday night.

The Tigers had five players in double figures led by 15 from Chase Hunter, 14 from Brevin Galloway and 13 from Ian Schieffelin.

All but two of Schieffelin’s points came during his 8 minutes on the court in the second half.

I had worried about the bench scoring outside of P.J. Hall, and Schieffelin filled that void perfectly, especially in the second half.

Schieffelin finished 4 of 6 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line in 19 crucial minutes on the court.

Hunter Tyson had 11 and Hall tallied 10 for Clemson, while Tyson led the Tigers in rebounding with 10.

The Knights gave Clemson all they wanted and more in a tough, physical game in which Bellarmine had the lead several times in the second half before the Tigers pulled away in the final few minutes.

The Tigers shot 46.8% from the field, including 46.4% from three and drilled 19 of 22 (86.4%) free throws on the evening.

While Clemson got 54 minutes (13.5% of total) from the bench, the contributions of Schieffelin were the difference and something that was missing in the loss to South Carolina.

Clemson only played 9 players and while neither Dillon Hunter nor Chauncey Wiggins dented the scoring column, Wiggins did see the court for meaningful minutes in the second half.

The starter minutes and lack of bench depth are still a concern, as outside of token starter Ben Middlebrooks (9 minutes), each played 30+ minutes, including 37 by Chase Hunter, 35 by Hunter Tyson and 34 by Alex Hemenway.

The schedule gets tougher for Clemson men’s basketball

Next up the Tigers take on Loyola-Maryland Monday in Littlejohn Coliseum as part of the 2022 Emerald Coast Classic, which will see the Tigers travel to Niceville, Florida for games next Friday (Iowa) and Saturday (TCU/Cal).

The schedule heats up quickly as after the Emerald Coast Classic Clemson takes on Penn State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge before diving into ACC play on December 2 against undefeated Wake Forest.