For a while, it looked like Clemson’s men’s basketball team might not build on the momentum of its impressive ACC-opening victory.

The Tigers kept making shots, though. And their defense showed up just in the nick of time. 

PJ Hall scored 22 points, Hunter Tyson added 20, and Clemson held off Towson for an 80-75 win late Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. Alex Hemenway (15) and Chase Hunter (14) also reached double figures for the Tigers, who needed all of those contributions to surge late and extend their longest win streak of the season.

“Our guys were tremendous on offense. Shot it well and shared the ball well,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, whose team had 21 assists on 28 made shots. “Found a way to win a hard game, which is good for us.”

Clemson’s fourth straight victory continued a streak that started just after Thanksgiving, and it came five nights after the Tigers (8-2) began the league portion of their schedule with a 20-point drubbing of Wake Forest in the same building. It also kept Clemson from what would’ve been another blemish on its postseason resume.

The Tigers took a Quadrant 4 loss to South Carolina last month. Towson (8-2), despite winning a share of the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title last season and winning eight of its first nine games this season, came in at No. 82 in the NET rankings, making them a Quad 3 opponent for the time being since Clemson played them at home.

“They had a lot of experienced players, older players and really good players, and they play well together as a team,” Tyson said. “So we knew it was going to be a fight, and man was it. But we got it done.”

Clemson held the Demon Deacons to less than 34% shooting its last time out but had more trouble at times defending Towson’s balanced, methodical attack. Towson, led by Nicolas Timberlake’s 21 points, sank eight 3-pointers and outscored the Tigers, 34-28, in the paint. Cameron Holden added 18 points, six boards and five assists for the visitors.

Towson led 50-43 with 14 minutes, 28 seconds, but Clemson chipped away behind a 54% shooting clip. The Tigers eventually caught up and took the lead for good on Hall’s layup with 4:20 left. That sparked a 13-4 run that helped the Tigers take control down the stretch. Towson missed six of its last eight shots to finish at 41.8% shooting from the field.

“We played great on offense. Defensively, a C-plus or B-minus probably,” Brownell said. “Just not quite as good as we need to be. … But give our guys a lot of credit. That’s a game that could go the other way. They had a lot of momentum in the second half, and our guys had to take it away from them. And they did.”

Clemson started hot from deep to set the tone for a 61.9% clip from 3-point range, which helped the Tigers overcome a minus-3 rebounding margin (33-36) and 13 turnovers. Clemson scored 21 of its first 23 points from deep and made nine of its 14 3s in the first half.

But the Tigers led just 37-35 at the break, costing themselves more first-half points with nine turnovers. They also struggled to get stops early as each team shot better than 44% from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team and a lot of guys that can really shoot the ball,” Tyson said. “We were able to get something going tonight, so that was good. But we just have to continue to turn it up on the defensive end.”

Towson led by as many as six before Tyson’s 3 with less than 9 minutes left in the first half gave the Tigers their first lead. Hall, who played a season-high 29 minutes in his third straight start, made four of his first seven shots before combining with Tyson for 26 second-half points.

“I’m starting to get (my legs) under me,” Hall said.

The teams continued to go blow for blow until Clemson got the stops it needed late to stay in the win column. Next up for the Tigers is a date with Loyola Chicago in Atlanta on Saturday.