Carter Welling’s 11 points in the final few minutes helped Clemson battle back from two double-digit deficits in the second half to knock off West Virginia 70-67 in the semifinals of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Friday in TD Arena.

After trailing the entire second half, three straight baskets from Carter Welling, including two three-pointers, gave Clemson a 66-63 lead with just over a minute to play. The Mountaineers then pulled to within a point after a layup.

After a foul, Welling hit just one of two free throws to give the Tigers a 67-65 lead with West Virginia hoping to play for the final shot. A three-pointer was airmailed and Jake Wahlin would come away with the rebound. He was immediately fouled but hit just one of the two shots.

West Virginia got the rebound and inexplicably took an easy slam on a fast break rather than looking to tie, and it was Clemson’s ball, up a point with just 1.2 seconds left. Welling then hit two free throws after the inbounds to ice it.

The Tigers (5-1) held West Virginia to just 40% shooting, while the Mountaineers (5-1) were 9-of-23 from beyond the arc.

RJ Godfrey led Clemson with 14 points while pulling down six rebounds. Welling finished with 13, with 10 of those coming late, while Dillon Hunter also added 13.

Butta Johnson scored 11, connecting on 2-of-4 from three-point land, and Jestin Porter finished with 12, hitting on 2-of-4 from deep.

West Virginia got a valiant effort from Honor Huff, who led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 3-of-4 from three.

After taking an early six-point lead, Clemson went cold from the perimeter, finishing the first half just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc. Despite the shooting struggles, the Tigers were able to keep it close, but a half-court heave off of a steal by West Virginia’s Chance Moore banked in at the buzzer and sent the Mountaineers into the break with a 32-25 lead.

Highlighted by back-to-back buckets by Godfery, Clemson outscored West Virginia 10-5 coming out of halftime to pull to within two. After the teams traded three-pointers, the Mountaineers got a short basket with the shot clock expiring to push the lead back to four. After a turnover by Ace Buckner, West Virginia scored the next five points to push its lead out to nine at 47-38.

The Mountaineers would eventually stretch the lead to 11, before a putback by Godfrey and a three from Johnson cut the deficit to six at 52-46. After West Virginia pushed the lead back out to 10, Clemson once again pulled to within six with just over six minutes to play.

Back-to-back layups by Porter and Hunter then pulled the Tigers to within four at 61-57.

Up Next

Clemson will wrap up play in the Shriners’ Children’s Charleston Classic on Sunday against either Georgia or Xavier. Game time to be announced.