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By: Josh Fuller

MONTEVALLO, ALA. – In a game that featured 44 combined turnovers and 75 free throw attempts, the Columbus State University men's basketball team survived a last-second effort from Lane to pull out an 81-78 victory Saturday. The game was part of the PBC-SIAC Challenge hosted by Montevallo at Trustmark Arena. 
 
After Lane rallied to tie the game at 78 with under a minute to go, Marcus Dixon went 1-for-2 at the line to give CSU a one-point advantage. Lane had the chance to go ahead, but the shot was wide allowing Darius Joell to grab the board. The junior was immediately fouled and nailed both free throw attempts to give the Cougars an 81-78 lead with nine seconds to go.
 
Lane took two three-point attempts, including one at the buzzer, but neither found the net allowing the Cougars to move to 3-0 on the season.
 
"It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it for sure," said head coach Robert Moore. "The guys found a way to pull this one out after being down for most of it. It was a fight against a good team and I'm glad we were on the winning side."
 
Lane (1-4) jumped on the Cougars early scoring nine of the first 11 points to take a 9-2 lead with just three minutes off the clock. The Cougars began chipping away and eventually tied the game at 20 after a Joell fastbreak layup following a John Lambert steal at the 10:05 mark.
 
The Cougars took their first lead at 23-21 after Rudy Winters completed a three-point play with 8:09 on the clock. CSU would hold onto the lead until the final minute of the half when Jamier Mix hit a three to put the Dragons in front 34-32 heading to the break.
 
To begin the second half, CSU immediately tied the game and answered another Lane bucket to knot it back up at 36. However, a three from Bridson Rivera jump-started the Dragons as they took a 41-36 lead. The Cougars responded though getting a jumper from Winters and a three-point play from Dixon to tie the game at 41 with 16:39 left in the game.
 
Lane finally found a rhythm and went up 52-44 over the next three minutes. Needing to respond, the Cougars did just that and quickly tied the game at 52 following a three from Winters. CSU continued the run and eventually took a 56-52 lead after four straight points from JaCori Payne that concluded the 12-0 run.
 
The score would remain tight as CSU's lead never went above four as the Dragons hung around. Lane eventually tied the game again at 65 with 7:32 to go after a Terrance Bridgman three.
 
Lane would go up 67-65, but a quick 6-0 run by the Cougars gave CSU the lead for good in the game with 4:49 to go. Lane would tie the game at 76 with just 1:38 to go, but Ryan Burnett went 2-for-2 at the line to give CSU the lead right back 78-76. The Dragons tied the game one more time after a layup setting up the final minute of action.
Joell scored a season-high 22 points after going 7-for-11 from the field.  Dixon recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Winters and Payne each scored 18. Payne had six assists as well.
 
As a team, Columbus State shot just 38.1 percent (24-for-63) and 14.8 percent (4-for-27) from three. However, CSU shot 70.7 percent (29-41) from the free throw line. The Cougars outrebounded the Dragons 46-32.
 
Columbus State will be back in action after Thanksgiving taking on Fort Valley State on Wednesday, November 30. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. in Fort Valley.