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By:
Josh Fuller
COLUMBUS – After beginning the season with a comfortable win, the Columbus State University men's basketball team will hit the road to compete in the PBC-SIAC Challenge hosted by Montevallo.
The Cougars will take on Miles on Friday at 6 p.m. before challenging Lane on Saturday at 4 p.m. Both games will take place in TrustMark Arena.
Last Time Out
The Cougars trailed for just 17 seconds as they rolled to a 92-76 victory over Middle Georgia State in CSU's season opener in the Lumpkin Center on Wednesday.
JaCori Payne tied his career high in points with 23, while
Rudy Winters added 20 in his Cougar debut.
Darius Joell (18) and
Arben Camaj (10) also scored in double figures.
Series History
This will be the second consecutive season in which Columbus State has taken on Miles and Lane in a regular season tournament. CSU is a perfect 3-0 all-time against Miles while the Dragons are 1-0 against the Cougars. Lane defeated CSU 74-69 in Birmingham last season.
Last Meeting
The Cougars won a shootout against Miles last year on the Golden Bears home floor taking the contest 106-98. Former Cougar
DeMarcus McVay scored 20 for CSU, while Payne added 17. CSU shot 52.3 percent from the floor.
Against Lane, the Cougars shot just 34.4 percent as the Dragons pulled out the victory. McVay once again led CSU with 17 points.
Moore on the Matchups
"I'm excited to see how we match up against two very solid opponents," said head coach
Robert Moore. "We played well on Wednesday, but there are always things to improve on and I want to see us taking the steps in the right direction."
About Miles
Miles is currently 0-2 after competing in the Wentz Financial Classic hosted by West Georgia. The Golden Bears fell to Lee 85-74 before dropping a tough 104-70 game to West Georgia.
Javier McKinney is averaging 13.5 points to pace Miles. McKinney is 4-for-8 from beyond the three-point line. Carl Garcia and Chauncey Day also average more than 10 points a night averaging 11.5 and 11.0, respectively.
As a team, the Golden Bears are shooting just 39.8 percent from the floor.
Turnovers have been a problem for Miles through the first two games. The Golden Bears are averaging 19 per game, six more than their opponents.
About Lane
Lane also competed in the Wentz Financial Classic last weekend and split the pair of games. The Dragons fell to West Georgia in a tight 89-76 game before blowing out Lee 87-68.
The Dragons have plenty of scoring options with four guys averaging more than 10 points per game through the first weekend. Terrance Bridgeman broke out for 28 against Lee.
Kendarius Ash already has two double-doubles for Lane this year. He has grabbed 15 rebounds in both games this season and is averaging 13 points per game.
Lane committed 27 turnovers in its loss against West Georgia.
CSU Notes
With the win on Wednesday, head coach
Robert Moore earned his 100th career victory. Moore joins CSU Hall of Fame members Sonny Clements and Herbert Greene as the only coaches in Columbus State history to collect 100 wins.
Nine CSU players scored at least two points on Wednesday against Middle Georgia.
After just playing 51 minutes last year,
Marcus Dixon started for the Cougars in the season opener and led the team with 11 rebounds.
The Cougars had 19 assists to just 11 turnovers in on Wednesday. Three players had four or more dimes with Joell leading the way with five.
Media Coverage
Both games will be broadcast live on NewsRadio 540 WDAK with CSU Hall of Fame broadcaster Scott Miller on the call.
