BRISTOL, Tenn. – The No. 11 seed Erskine College men's basketball team (11-19, 6-14 CC) was defeated by the No. 4 seed King University (18-11, 15-5 CC) by a score of 97-85 in the second round of the 2025 Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship at the King University Student Center Complex on Monday night.

The Fleet got a career-high 32 points from senior Jayden Byrd, along with a career-best 14 points from fellow senior Makayl Rakestraw, but Erskine was unable to keep up with the hot-shooting Tornado throughout the second half, as Erskine's 2024-25 season came to an end.

GAME STATS at King (L 85-97)
POINTS: Jayden Byrd (32)
REBOUNDS: Zion Brown (7), Jalen Jennings (7)
ASSISTS: Jalen Jennings (3)
BLOCKS: Jalen Jennings (1)
STEALS: Ja'Hiem Handy (3), Makayl Rakestraw (3)

THE TEAM
Erskine shot 43% (32-75) from the field and 41% (15-37) from the three-point line, as well as 86% (6-7) from the free throw line. The Fleet made 11 threes in the second half to claw back from a nine-point deficit at the half, but the Tornado shot 19 more free throws and scored 15 more points from the charity stripe than the Fleet.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
With the loss, Erskine's 2024-2025 season comes to an end. But, the 11 wins the Fleet accumulated was their most in a season since the 2018-19 campaign, and Erskine not only qualified for the conference tournament for the first time since that season, but won a game in the postseason, a feat Erskine hadn't accomplished since 2013.

Erskine will now head into the off-season and begin preparations for the 2025-26 season, where the Fleet will hope to continue to build on a successful campaign.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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