COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Claflin Panthers went on an 18-5 run in the second half and pulled away from a close game to take an 82-58 victory over the Benedict Tigers on Thursday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Claflin (15-13, 12-7 SIAC) had five players in double figures, led by Kendall Jackson with 21 points.

Andrew Crawford led Benedict with 19 points, 16 coming in the first half. Deonte Johnson added 14 points.

The first half was close, with Claflin taking a 34-33 lead into the locker room. The game was tied 42-42 with 15:19 to play on a layup by Brennan Reynard. Roger Patrell and Jackson hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Panthers to ignite the big second-half run. Roberto Mantovani scored a layup to cut the lead to 50-46, but the Panthers hit another 3-pointer to start a 10-1 run.

Benedict committed 16 turnovers in the game, and Claflin was able to convert those turnovers into 31 points. Benedict had just two points off of Claflin's eight turnovers.

After shooting 59 percent in the first half, the Tigers cooled down to 40 percent in the second half. Claflin, meanwhile, shot 62.5 percent in the second half.

Claflin also had a 30-19 rebounding advantage.

Benedict takes on Paine College in Augusta, Ga., on Saturday.