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By:
Josh Fuller
COLUMBUS – After escaping with a tight victory at Fort Valley State Wednesday, the Columbus State University men's basketball team will stay on the road to face West Georgia Saturday afternoon in Carrollton, Ga. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. inside The Coliseum.
Last Time Out
Columbus State held off a late Fort Valley State rally to finish off an 87-82 victory over the Wildcats Wednesday night.
Marcus Dixon grabbed a huge offensive rebound in the final minute of the game and finished off the put back to help clinch the game for the Cougars.
JaCori Payne had a game-high 20 points while
Darius Joell was 7-for-12 from the floor to score 17. Dixon finished the night with a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with seven points and four assists.
Series History
Columbus State and West Georgia have a storied past dating back to 1973 when both schools were a part of the old South Atlantic Conference. UWG leads the all-time series 29-21, however the Cougars have taken the last two meetings.
Last Meeting
In a shootout, the Cougars barely edged the Wolves 110-106 to grab the victory inside the Lumpkin Center last season on November 21. The Cougars had six players that scored over 10 including Payne who scored a career-high 22.
Arben Camaj had 10 points and eight rebounds. As a team, CSU shot 54.9 percent for the game, including a sizzling 58.8 percent in the second half.
Moore on Matchup
"This is going to be a great test for us against a very talented West Georgia team. They can score and we know that we can score, so it's going to come down to the defensive side of the ball. We will have to make a few key stops down the stretch in order for us to walk out of there with a victory.
About West Georgia
West Georgia is currently on a two-game losing streak after dropping an 88-85 contest to Morehouse on Monday. The Wolves still boast a winning record at 3-2 overall.
The Wolves' most impressive win of the young season came on November 19 as they blasted Augusta 104-86 on the road. UWG shot 55.9 percent in the game, including going 13-for-26 from three. It's Augusta's only loss so far this season.
Stephaun Branch is the main scoring threat for West Georgia as he is averaging 18.6 points per game. He is shooting over 52 percent on the season while averaging 7.0 rebounds a night.
Aaron Cameron (11.8 PPG) and Keron Briggs (11.6 PPG) also average over 10 points per game.
As a team, West Georgia is averaging 90 points per game and has scored over 100 points in two games this season.
CSU Notes
Columbus State is currently 4-0 on the young season marking the second straight year that the Cougars have begun the year by winning their first four games.
CSU is currently the only undefeated team in the Peach Belt Conference.
Through four games, Dixon has been controlling the glass for Columbus State. The junior has grabbed double-digit rebounds in three out of the four games this season and is currently leading the PBC in rebounding averaging 11.5 per contest.
Joell and Payne are pacing the Columbus State scoring attack through four games. Joell is leading the way averaging 17.8 points per game shooting 54.3 percent from the floor, while Payne is averaging 17.0. Payne is also averaging a team best 3.5 assists per game.
In their last game against Fort Valley State, the Cougars exploded from three making a season-high 10 three-pointers. In the previous two games, CSU made only 10 combined three-point shots.
Media Coverage
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on NewsRadio 540 WDAK with CSU Hall of Fame broadcaster Scott Miller on the call.
