Morehouse Turns “Battle of the AUC” Into “Battle of the Ouch” CAU
ATLANTA — The "Battle of the AUC" is supposed to be a war. It’s supposed to be gritty. It’s supposed to come down to the wire. But on Saturday inside L.S. Epps Gym, Morehouse College apparently decided that drama is overrated.
The Maroon Tigers (7-0 SIAC East) kept their record unblemished and their egos healthy, turning a brief second-half scare into a runaway 86-64 victory over Clark Atlanta. It was Morehouse’s sixth straight win, and frankly, if you left to get a hot dog with 15 minutes left, you missed the part where the Panthers’ upset hopes were kindly escorted out of the building.
The “Fast and Furious” Start
Morehouse didn’t wait for the opening credits to start the action. Brandon Peters drained a three less than 60 seconds in, basically telling the Panthers, "It's gonna be a long day."
The Tigers’ defense was suffocating, turning Clark Atlanta possessions into cardio sessions that yielded zero points. Ebuka Peter was finishing at the rim, JerMontae Hill was running fastbreaks like he left the stove on, and Caleb Thompson cleaned up a missed shot with a putback dunk that registered on the Richter scale.
At one point, Omar Farah decided the three-point line was merely a suggestion, splashing back-to-back triples to balloon the lead to 34-14. It looked like a blowout. It smelled like a blowout.
The "Wait, Are We In Trouble?" Moment
But alas, sports are weird. Clark Atlanta, realizing they were actually participating in a basketball game, went on a tear to end the first half, cutting the deficit to 40-31.
Then, the second half started, and things got spicy.
The Panthers came out with the urgency of a student realizing their term paper is due at midnight. They hit threes, they hit jumpers, and suddenly, the score was 43-42. A one-point game. The home crowd was losing its mind. The upset was brewing. The script was flipping.
The "Just Kidding" Response
Morehouse looked at the scoreboard, saw the one-point lead, and collectively said, “Nah.”
JerMontae Hill sliced through the lane to stop the bleeding, and Josiah Lawson went to work in the paint like a blue-collar plumber fixing a leak. The turning point, however, was the sequence from Sincere Key and Brandon Peters. Key hit free throws, and Peters stepped into a three-pointer so disrespectful it should have come with a handwritten apology note.
Boom. 57-47. Order restored.
From there, it was a highlight reel. Jared White buried a three, and Sincere Moore hit a triple that pushed the lead to 66-54, effectively putting the Panthers in the rearview mirror.
The Oprah Winfrey Ending
The game ended in the most chaotic way possible. With Morehouse cruising, the final minutes devolved into a whistle-fest. A personal foul was called, followed immediately by three technical fouls.
Yes, three. The refs were handing out technicals like Oprah handing out cars. “You get a T! You get a T! Everybody gets a T!”
The resulting free-throw marathon padded the stats, sealed the 86-64 win, and cemented Morehouse’s spot at the top of the division.
Final Verdict: The Maroon Tigers are 7-3 in their last 10, perfect in the division, and currently the kings of the AUC. Clark Atlanta has heart, but Morehouse has shooters—and apparently, a lot of patience for free throws.
