Fred Watson had yet to arrive at the Jonas T. Kennedy Center Wednesday and he was already fighting an uphill battle with Murphy’s Law.

The suit the Benedict College men’s basketball coach intended to wear for his latest clash with longtime rival Claflin University turned up missing. Watson hustled back to Columbia to retrieve another one, only to discover he had left his house keys back in Orangeburg.

As Watson made his way back into the Edward Tullis Arena wearing his purple sweat pants and grey Benedict shirt, junior forward and co-team leading scorer Kennie Eberhart slipped on a wet spot while attempting a layup during pregame drills. He was sprawled on the gymnasium floor in pain favoring his left knee and was helped off the court by a team trainer.

This proved to be a turning point in Watson’s luck as he acknowledged the team normally does not bring team trainers on road games. With the assistance of the trainers, a gimpy Eberhart was able to play and managed to put a hurting on the Panthers with a game-high 31 points to lead Benedict to a 79-76 win.

“All that is worth is now, but I want my suit back,” Watson said. “I can live with it for a couple of days. This is great. It’s Benedict/Claflin. I’ve been a part of a it for a long time. I get no better thrill than beating Claflin. It’s bigger than the schools. Bigger than Benedict. Bigger than the players and the communities involved. It’s the only game everybody asks me about.”

The Tigers (5-3, 4-1) led by as many as 19 points before holding off a furious Panthers’ rally. Michael Jones scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Eric Salley scored nine of his 14 points during the final three minutes when Claflin (7-6, 7-5) closed the gap to 34-31 at halftime.

Down the stretch, unforced turnovers and free throws made by the Tigers sent the defending SIAC regular-season champions to their second consecutive home defeat. Afterwards, Claflin head coach Ron Woodard could not keep his eyes off the 19 turnovers posted in Claflin’s final statistics as compared to just eight by Benedict.

“Tonight, we played catch up ball all night,” he said. “Every time we got close, we found a way to turn it over or take a bad shot instead of sticking with the gameplan.”

Benedict took control of the game midway through the first half as guard Aubrey Brown, who finished with 23 points, connected on back-to-back jumpers to put his team up 14-9.

Claflin fell behind by 12 points before Anthony Pigram connected on four 3-pointers during a 15-7 run in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 34-31 at halftime. Pigram was held scoreless in the second half in finishing with 12 points.

The Panthers as a team were slow to come out in the second half, making it back to the floor just horn sounded for the end of halftime.

Benedict was more than ready to answer the bell, specifically Cassius Bell who scored four points during a 7-0 run in the first 52 seconds of the second half. A 9-0 run by Benedict extended its lead to 63-44.

Claflin continued to fight back behind the scoring of Salley and Jones. A layup by Salley made it 73-70 with 1:27 remaining. After two free throws by James Walker made it 75-70, Salley lost control of the basketball for a turnover.

Eberhart twice connected on two free throws between back-to-back 3-pointers by Jones to close out the victory for Benedict.

“We never quit,” Woodard said. “That is the positive thing out of this. But we’ve still got a lot more basketball to play and we’ve got to mature at some point. If this game does not get you to mature, then nothing will.”

Turnovers and sluggish shooting also played a role in the Claflin women’s 65-56 loss to SIAC co-leader Benedict College. The Pantherettes (2-10, 2-9) led at halftime 36-33 before falling victim to the Tigers’ fullcourt pressure defense which resulted in 24 turnovers.

Brittany Jackson posted a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds and Bridget Williams also had 10 points for Benedict (8-2, 5-0). Leshia Brigham had a game-high 18 points for Claflin, although she and Ashley Sorrell-Gibson, who finished with 13 points, had most of their output in the first half when they each scored 11 points. Lassaundra Barron added 15 points and 13 rebounds in a losing effort.

Claflin heads to Tuscaloosa, Ala. Saturday for a doubleheader against Stillman College.

Men’s Basketball

Bendedict (79) -- Steven Horton 4, Cassius Bell 8, Aubrey Brown 23, Trevor Eichelberger 3, James Walker 10, Kennie Eberhart 31

Claflin (76)-- Mike Jones 28, Anthony Pigrim 12, Thomas Bookman 8, Eric Salley 14, Efe Uwadiae-Odigie 4, Otamere Oronsaye 2, Stanley Young 2, Edward Green 2, Stacy McAlister 4

Women’s Game

Benedict (65) -- Bridget Williams 10, Alexus Jones 8, Brittany Jackson 10, Charvez Holmes 9, Tamara Rogers 6, Anaka Ross 7, Shakira Autry 7, Chelsea Passante 8

Claflin (56) -- Ashley Sorrell-Gibson 13, Lesha Brigham 18, Amelia Jones 8, Lashaundra Barron 15, Jontee Lindsey 2