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DAHLONEGA, Ga. – A 3-pointer with less than two seconds remaining downed the Columbus State University men's basketball team 85-83 at North Georgia on Wednesday night.
Darius Joell's contested jumper with 14 seconds left gave the Cougars an 83-79 edge. UNG then knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to cut the lead to just one.
Following a Nighthawk foul, the Cougars missed the front end of a 1-and-1 setting up the winning make in the closing seconds.
The game featured 12 lead changes, with CSU leading by as much as 10 in the second half and by nine with less than five-and-a-half minutes to play.
"We have to be better closing out games," head coach
Robert Moore said. "We missed two front ends at the line and North Georgia took advantage of it."
Columbus State (6-11, 6-8 PBC) took its first lead of the night just over eight minutes into the contest as
Rudy Winters put the Cougars in front 15-14. After exchanging the lead over the next 11 minutes, CSU scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 44-38 edge into the break.
Michael Graham tallied CSU's final four points of the first half and added the first four in the second as the Cougars jumped in front by double figures.
North Georgia (9-11, 7-7) responded right back however, putting together 12 unanswered points to seesaw back in front.
Trailing 55-50,
Darius Joell helped spark a Cougar spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers. The Cougars went on a 15-2 run over a five-minute stretch and were back in front by eight. The lead then stayed in CSU's hands until the final shot.
Four Cougars finished the night in double figures led by Graham. The sophomore scored a career-high 18 points for the second time in three games. Joell added 16, with Payne tallying 15 and
John Lambert 13.
CSU shot 47.8 percent (32-for-67) from the field on the night and was 8-for-22 from the 3-point line.
Columbus State returns home to take on Augusta on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center.
