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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Columbus State University men's basketball team fell 86-85 to hot-shooting Tusculum on Saturday evening. The game was played at Carson-Newman University.
 
JaCori Payne led five Cougars in double figures with 26 points. Marcus Dixon finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Thomas added 12 points off the bench, while John Lambert and Rudy Winters each chipped in 11.
 
"Give Tusculum a ton of credit," head coach Robert Moore said. "We knew they were going to shoot a lot of outside shots and they made more than they missed. We need to shake this one off because we have a very good Carson-Newman team tomorrow."
 
In a game that featured 18 lead changes and eight ties, it was Tusculum (2-4) that jumped out to the early advantage. The Pioneers used a 10-0 run to open up a 24-13 lead and led by nine with just under 10 minutes to play in the first.
 
Columbus State (0-2) answered back in a big way though, outscoring TC 26-12 over the final 10 minutes to hold a 43-38 edge at the break.
 
The Cougars stayed in front until the 13-minute mark when Tusculum connected from outside and then converted a three-point play on consecutive possessions to take the lead back at 55-54.
 
Tusculum's next six field goals all came from behind the arc as the two sides went back and forth.
 
Down 81-79, Thomas buried a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to put the Cougars in front and Lambert split a pair of free throws on the following possession to make it a two-point game with one minute remaining.
 
Two offensive rebounds gave the Pioneers a third chance the next time up the court, and TC cashed it in with yet another 3-pointer to take the lead back.
 
Payne tried to put the Cougars back in front with 10 seconds to go, but his attempt fell off and Tusculum was able to hang on.
 
The Cougars shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) on the night and were 22-for-31 from the foul line. CSU also won the rebounding battle 39-30.
 
The story of the night was the shooting of Tusculum, as the Pioneers knocked down 18-of-33 3-point attempts.
 
Columbus State will be back in action on Sunday with an afternoon tilt against Carson-Newman. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.