February 26, 2011

COLUMBUS – Jarmarquis Steverson hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the contest but Tyrell Coleman answered back hitting the game-winner from downtown with 1.9 seconds remaining on the clock to propel Montevallo to a 52-50 victory Saturday afternoon inside the Lumpkin Center.  CSU ends its season at 11-15 and 7-10 in PBC play while the Falcons improves to 17-9 on the year and 10-7 in conference action.

UM got on the board first on a Ronald Severtsgaard layup but the Cougars outscored the visitors 11-3 over the next two minutes behind three-pointers by Steve Peterson and Bryant Thomas as well as a three-point play by Paul Darkwa to take an 11-5 lead two minutes and thirty-five seconds into the game. 

Montevallo responded back over the next several minutes as Jonas Brown hit three consecutive shots from downtown as well as getting a three-pointer from Tyrell Coleman and a layup by Severtsgaard that put UM ahead 19-17 with 13:09 to go in the first half.

Columbus State answered right back with an impressive 16-4 run over the next seven minutes to take a 33-23 advantage with 6:16 remaining in the opening 20 minutes of action.  Isaac Joyner scored seven of the points during the spurt as five different Cougars scored.

The Falcons slowly inched their way back as the half was coming to a close outscoring CSU 12-4 to head into the break down 37-35.

Coming out of the half Montevallo scored on a layup to knot the game at 37-37 as the teams would go back and forth over the next eight minutes of the second half with neither team going ahead by more than a basket. 

With the score tied at 47-47, UM made back-to-back baskets for the first time all half taking a slim 51-47 edge.

CSU answered with the next five points on a Joyner layup and Steverson three-pointer giving the home team a 52-51 advantage with 4:38 to go in the game. 

Both teams struggled offensively down the stretch but Steverson came up big for Columbus State as he tied the game up at 55 all when he buried a trifecta with 1:52 remaining.

After Montevallo made one-of-two free throws, Darkwa gave CSU the lead again (57-56) on a layup with 1:01 left in the contest. 

On their next possession, UM missed a three-pointer but got the offensive rebound.  Coleman took advantage of the extra possession as he knocked down a three-pointer putting them back in front 59-57 with 30 seconds to go. 

With the clock winding down Steverson gave Columbus State the short-lived lead answering back with a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 11 seconds remaining. 

Montevallo raced the ball up court and called a timeout.  Coleman received the ball and took a couple dribbles before launching the three-pointer from four feet beyond the line and knocking it home. 

Joyner's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was no good for CSU.

Steverson led the offensive attack for Columbus State scoring a career high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting including 4-for-6 from downtown.  Peterson and Joyner also hit double figures netting 12 points and 11 points, respectively.  As a team, CSU shot 47.8% (22-for-46) from the field including 8-for-20 (40%) from three-point range.

Three players also hit double-digits for UM led by Antoine Davis' 14 points.  Severtsgaard registered a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Montevallo held a 38-26 advantage in rebounds including a 22-to-5 edge on the offensive glass.  Those rebounds led to 22 second chance points and they also scored 22 points off of turnovers.