GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) Clemson overmatched North Carolina Central 74-40 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Junior forward Jaron Blossomgame led Clemson with 18 points and added four rebounds. Senior center Landry Nnoko scored 7 points and led the Tigers with nine rebounds and six blocks.
In a losing effort, junior guard DaJuan Graf led N.C. Central with 11 points. Senior forward Jeremiah Ingram scored 8 points and led the Eagles with eight rebounds.
A run of 21 unanswered points for the Tigers, on which the home team held the visiting Eagles scoreless for 8 minutes and 42 seconds, enabled Clemson to take a 35-9 lead before senior forward Jeremiah Ingram finally ended the drought with a 3-point shot with 3:26 to play in the first half. The Tigers took a 38-16 lead into halftime.
Junior guard Avry Holmes, a transfer from the University of San Francisco making his debut for Clemson after sitting out the 2014-15 season, and sophomore forward Donte Grantham both added 11 points
Clemson went on to outscore N.C. Central 21-8 in the first 12 minutes of the second half. Grantham led the Tigers with 28 minutes played; Clemson removed its other four starters - Blossomgame, Nnoko, Holmes and senior guard Jordan Roper- with more than seven minutes left to play in the game.
TIP INS
Clemson: Friday's game was the first of 17 home games that the Tigers will play in Greenville this year. Prior to Friday night, the Tigers had not played in Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2004-05, when it was still named the Bi-Lo Center. Clemson's on-campus basketball facility, the Littlejohn Coliseum, is undergoing major renovations this year and will reopen for the Tigers' 2016-17 season.
N.C. Central: The Eagles went undefeated in regular-season play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2014-15, but missed the NCAA Tournament after losing to Delaware State in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Eagles, who lost to Miami (Fla.) in the first round of the NIT, did not return any starters from last year's team.
UP NEXT
Clemson will play its second game of its regular season against Texas-San Antonio at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday.
N.C. Central will play its first home game against Allen University at McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham, N.C. on Monday.
