February 12, 2011

COLUMBUS – The Columbus State men's basketball team won its second straight road game Saturday afternoon, taking down Armstrong Atlantic 89-76 inside Alumni Arena.

Columbus State improves to 10-12 on the year and 6-7 in Peach Belt play while AASU drops to 14-9 and 8-7 in league play.

Steve Peterson got the scoring going for the visitors early, knocking down a three just 19 seconds in to give CSU an early 3-0 lead.

Neither team could create any separation early on, as the game was tied 8-8 at the 15:45 mark, before four quick points by Jonathan Murphy put Columbus State up 12-8 with 14:32 remaining before halftime.

The Pirates would fight back, however, taking their first lead of the game at 13-12 on a DeVon Jones bucket with 12:35 left in the first half.

Paul Darkwa would respond for CSU as he drained a jumper, tying the game up at 14-14 at the 12:27 mark.  From that point, Armstrong Atlantic would reel off a 21-2 run to jump out in front 35-16 with just under five minutes remaining before the break. 

Needing to chip away at the lead in the final five minutes of the half CSU started to get things going offensively, led by Steve Peterson who poured in 11 points in the final five minutes, the last of which came when he connected from three-point range to cut the Pirate lead to 44-31 with under a minute remaining in the first half.

Four points from Andrew Houts and an Isac Joyner layup in the final 30 seconds, cut the deficit to 46-37 sending CSU into the break, down just 9.

Columbus State continued to erase the Pirate lead as the second half of play began, eventually working all the way back to tie the game 51-51 on an Andrew Houts three pointer with 16:17 left in the contest.

Armstrong Atlantic would respond to the CSU surge, stretching the lead back to 62-56 on a Brett Goodwell jumper with 13:01 left to play.  The Cougars would once again storm back, this time with a 9-3 run capped off by a Blake Zamudio three pointer to tie the game once again at 65 all.

A Chris Edwards free throw put AASU up 66-65 and it would be the last lead of the game for the Pirates as Columbus State would control the final eight minutes of play.

Zamudio would strike again from deep, this one giving CSU its first lead since 12-11, putting the Cougars up 68-66.

Another run, this one a 13-2 spurt over the next five minutes of play would put the game away for Columbus State stretching the lead to 81-68 with 2:38 to play.

Armstrong Atlantic would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as CSU cruised to its second straight road victory 89-76.

The Pirates placed four players in double figures led by Chris Vanlandingham who scored 13 points and added three rebounds.  Keyshore Williams and Chris Edwards both chipped in with 12 points.  DeVon Jones added 11 points in 28 minutes.

Steve Peterson had a monster game for CSU as he led all scorers with 24 points, including 5-of-8 from three-point range.  Jarmarquis Steverson added 16 points, eight assists, and  four rebounds in 29 minutes of action.  Darius McKnight also had a huge game for the Cougars as he registered his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  Andrew Houts chipped in 10 points in 25 minutes of play. 

CSU connected on 48.5 percent shooting from the floor including an 8-of-18 performance from three-point land.  The Cougars also connected on 15-of-22 (68.2%) from the foul line.

Columbus State will return to the hardwood Wednesday evening as it returns home to take on Clayton State at 7:30 pm.  The game will a part of Pink Night at the Lumpkin Center and admission will be free to all those in attendance.