Coming off a tough road loss last weekend to Georgetown, its first of the season, Brad Brownell wanted to see his team rebound.

The Tigers did just that. coming back from two double-digit deficits in the second half to grit out a 70-67 win over West Virginia in the semifinals of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Friday night.

Finding themselves down eight with just over six minutes left, Clemson got back-to-back buckets from Dillon Hunter and Jestin Porter. A three-pointer by the Mountaineers put them right back up by six, when Carter Welling took over.

Welling scored eight straight points, putting Clemson up by three with just over one minute left. A lead the Tigers would never relinquish, as Welling scored 11 points down the stretch.

“That was a war,” Brownell said following the win. “Just proud of my team. We just knew we had to play really hard. We had a hard time until the end of shaking loose. Really proud of our team’s will to win. We just stayed with it and tried to keep grinding and guarding, and I think our guys did a lot of good things defensively, as well.”

For the most part, Brownell’s team played pretty well on the defensive end of the floor. West Virginia shot just 40% from the field. The Mountaineers also had some struggles from the charity stripe, hitting on just 12-of-19 attempts.

“I thought we played a really good 20 minutes against Georgetown,” Brownell added. “Did not come out of halftime well, and they kind of smacked us. But then we battled back and had a chance late to get that game up there. But to knock one off, to finish one off, I think, is really meaningful. We probably played better in more stretches in the game at Georgetown, but our team found a way tonight. Sometimes those are more important wins for your team long-term.”

What resulted was the kind of win the Tigers can build off of, and with an unbeaten Georgia team (5-0) up next in the tournament finals, Brownell is hoping the momentum will carry into Sunday.

“When you have a new group, this many new players — we have a lot of new players. We have six freshmen. They are getting knocked on their heels a little bit, and we have to have the older guys step up and make plays and make sure our guys believe. These are the kinds of wins that help your team grow for that.”