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By:
Josh FullerCOLUMBUS – The Columbus State University men's basketball team scored 110 points with six players scoring in double figures lifting the Cougars to a 110-106 victory over West Georgia Saturday. The non-conference game took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
It is the second consecutive game that the Cougars eclipsed the 100-point plateau and the 110 points are the most points scored by CSU in a single game since Dec. 19, 2010 when the Cougars put up 113 against Hiwassee.
"We just came out hot and everything was going in for a while in the first half," commented head coach
Robert Moore. "JaCori [Payne] gave us a spark and we needed him because of Cam's [Baker] foul issues.
"This was a big victory for the guys, but championships aren't won in November three games in. We have to continue getting better."
Willie Evans made the opening bucket of the game for West Georgia and the two teams never looked back. Following the Evans jumper, the teams combined for four consecutive three-pointers with
JaCori Payne nailing two for the Cougars giving CSU a 9-5 lead just 90 seconds into the game.
Brentine Taylor made it a 11-5 game before a Shannon Fowler jumper and an Iakeem Aslston trifecta pulled UWG within one (11-10) of the lead.
The two sides would continue to exchange blows until the Cougars started to pull away midway through the opening half. Up 29-24 with 12:14 showing on the clock, CSU tore off an 11-0 run to go ahead 40-24.
DeMarcus McVay started the run with good plays on both sides of the court. The forward nailed a jumper before blocking a shot on the other end of the floor. On the ensuing possession, he laid one in to give the Cougars a 33-24 lead.
A layup by Payne, a pair of free throws by
Arben Camaj and a three-pointer by
Darren Daniel capped off the spurt for the Cougars.
After West Georgia (2-1) was able to cut the deficit to 46-33 with 6:41 showing on the clock, CSU strung together more points, this time a 7-0 spurt that gave CSU a 20-point advantage (53-33) with five minutes to play in the half. Camaj and
Matthias Sigurdarson each made a three-pointer that helped CSU get the game-high lead.
West Georgia was able to survive CSU's first half runs and the Wolves put together one of their own to close the half. Down 18 (55-37), the Wolves scored the final eight points of the half to pull within 10 (55-45). Aslston started the run with a layup while Steph Branch forced a turnover and raced down and laid one in before the buzzer.
The second half was much closer, but the two teams continued to drain buckets. CSU's lead would never get higher than 11 in the half and Jackson gave the Cougars that lead with 19:24 on the clock after a three-pointer.
The Wolves finally got the deficit to within single-digits as Keron Briggs hit a three-pointer to make it a 69-61 game with less than 15 minutes to play. The two teams exchanged more baskets until the Cougars stretched the lead back out to 11 (79-68) on a Payne jumper.
However, West Georgia came right back and made things interesting. Following Payne's field goal, the Wolves went on a 10-2 run to make it a one-possession game (81-78) with under 10 minutes to play. UWG had two threes during the run, one by Branch and one by Briggs, before Branch finished the spurt with a layup.
The lead would stay around three until the Cougars went back ahead by 10 thanks to a 7-0 burst. Taylor had a monster dunk while drawing a foul that sparked CSU with buckets following by Jackson and Baker that made it a 95-85 game with five minutes left to play.
West Georgia made one more late push and was able to pull within three two times in the final minute, but was never able to get the ball with a chance to tie the game.
Payne led the way for Columbus State (3-0) with a career-high 22 points. The sophomore went 9-for-13 from the floor while shooting 50 percent (3-for-6) from three. Payne had 17 of his 22 points in the first half.
Jackson continued his great start to the season scoring 20 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Taylor (17), Baker (16), McVay (12) and Camaj (10) were the other Cougars in double-digits.
Taylor had a great day on the glass grabbing 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his Cougar career.
As a team, Columbus State shot 54.9 percent (39-for-71) including a cool 50 percent (12-for-24) from three. At the line, the Cougars went 20-for-29.
In addition to their great shooting performance, CSU had 11 blocks with Camaj, Taylor and McVay having three apiece.
For West Georgia, Aslston scored a game-high 26 points while Branch and Briggs also surpassed the 20-point mark with 23 and 22, respectively. Branch had nine rebounds and three assists as well.
The Wolves shot 48.8 percent (40-for-82) while making 15 three-pointers.
Columbus State will rest up before competing in the Albany State Holiday Classic next weekend. On Saturday, the Cougars will take on Benedict at 5:30 p.m.
