Cougars Earn Hard-Fought 62-54 Win at Georgia Southwestern

Americus, Ga. -- Columbus State used an 8-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half to seize control of the game and then held off a determined Georgia Southwestern squad down the stretch, taking a 62-54 Peach Belt Conference road win on Saturday night. The Cougars are now 9-7 overall and 3-4 in the PBC, while the Hurricanes drop to 5-12, 1-6

"Georgia Southwestern battled us hard like they always do and we had to work hard to earn a win here tonight," said CSU head coach Doug Branson. "We got a great start coming out of halftime and that was good to see because we have come out after the break several times this season unfocused and it got us in trouble. Tonight, we came out focused and that was big for us."

CSU trailed only once during the entire contest - that coming at the 15:10 mark of the first half as the Hurricanes took an 8-7 lead. The Cougars re-took the lead after that, but could not pull away. Their biggest lead was their final lead of the half as a Chris Telesford jumper made it 29-22 with 21 seconds left.

Jeremy Grimball's slam off a Telesford feed capped the 8-0 run to start the second half. That bucket made the score 37-22 with 17:36 left and would be the biggest lead of the night for CSU. The Cougars were able to keep a double-digit lead for much of the next 15 minutes, but the Hurricanes would not go away.

Trailing 58-44 with 2:41 to play, GSW pulled themselves back into contention. Ric Roderick's three-pointer with 29 seconds left cut the margin to just six at 60-54 and capped a 10-2 run. The Hurricanes would not get another basket, however, and two Bryant Thomas free-throws put the finishing touches on the win for CSU with 14 seconds left.

Telesford led the Cougars with 13 points and eight rebounds, going 6-7 from the floor. Lamar Williams added 11 points and three assists, while CSU got 10 points each from Donta Ridley and Brandon Bland. Jeremy Grimball added several rebounds off the bench, while Bryant Thomas added five assists. CSU shot 46 percent in the second half to finish at 43 percent overall.

Chris Rawls led GSW with 17 points and 11 boards. Marcus Scott added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Evan Mobley added 12 points. The Hurricanes held a 38-36 advantage in rebounds, but shot just 28 percent in the second half and 31 percent overall.

CSU returns home to start a three-game PBC home stand with a rare Thursday contest as Lander comes in for a 7:30 game at the Lumpkin Center.