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By:
Stephen Williams
COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University men's basketball team made it six consecutive wins with a 109-69 victory over Fort Valley State on Monday night. The non-conference contest was played in the Lumpkin Center.
Columbus State is 6-0 for the second straight season, with Peach Belt Conference play beginning on Saturday.
The 109 points were a season-high for the Cougars, who crossed the century mark with more than three minutes to play.
JaCori Payne led seven Cougars in double figures with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting. It was the third time the junior has scored at least 20 in a game this season.
Marcus Dixon tallied a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds, his second of the year.
Arben Camaj finished with 13 points,
Darius Joell and
Markis Boyd each added 11, while
Ryan Burnett and
Jamal McKee scored 10.
"I was very pleased with our ball movement and unselfish play tonight," added head coach
Robert Moore. "Overall, we played a great game coming off a long layoff, which is great to see.
"We can't wait to get the conference schedule started and have to be ready for a tough Flagler team on Saturday."
Columbus State scored the game's first eight points and 14 of the first 17 as it took control from the opening tip.
Fort Valley State (3-5) was able to keep the margin back inside single digits until the 12-minute mark when the Cougars pulled away.
Camaj, Dixon and
Vic Ellis combined for a 7-0 CSU run and the Cougars never looked back.
John Lambert buried a three with under four minutes remaining to move the advantage out to 20 (40-20). Boyd then went on a personal 9-0 spurt getting a pair from downtown and a three-point play.
The Cougars took a 51-24 edge into the locker room at halftime after holding the Wildcats under 25 percent shooting.
It was more of the same after the break as Fort Valley State never got closer than 25 the rest of the way.
Columbus State shot 48.7 percent (38-for-78) for the night and knocked down 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Cougars were a season-best 22-of-25 at the free throw line.
Fort Valley State was held to just 32.9 percent (23-of-70) from the field and made only 7-of-28 (25 percent) three-pointers.
Columbus State will head into conference play on Saturday with a road trip to Flagler. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Saint Augustine, Fla.
