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COLUMBUS – In the final tune-up before the regular season, the Columbus State University men's basketball team downed LaGrange College 84-67 on Wednesday night. The exhibition contest was played inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
JaCori Payne led all scorers with 17 points in 23 minutes of action. Jalen Thomas added 12, while four other Cougars scored at least eight.
 
"This was good for us to get ready for the season," head coach Robert Moore said. "There are plenty of positives to take away, but we also saw the areas we need to improve as we head into real action next week."
 
Columbus State started the night cold, falling in a 9-0 hole over the first four minutes. A steal from John Lambert set up Payne for the first CSU points of the night and the Cougar offense went to work.
 
Marcus Dixon gave the Cougars their first lead of the night at the 12:18 mark and a 3-pointer from Vic Ellis put Columbus State in front for good with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half.
 
The Cougars closed out the first half on a 17-7 run over the final nine minutes to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The lead continued to grow after the break, with a 12-0 CSU run stretching the margin out to its largest point at 25 (65-40) with 9:31 to play.
 
CSU shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the floor, dropping in 14-of-24 3-point attempts with seven different Cougars making at least one.
 
Columbus State will open up the regular season on Friday, Nov. 17 against former Peach Belt Conference rival Montevallo. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Albany State University.