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BRISTOL, Tenn. – One day after a season-opening victory, the Columbus State University men's basketball team was defeated 80-76 at King on Saturday.
Columbus State (1-1) led for just 22 seconds on the day, but the Cougars battled against the Conference Carolinas preseason favorite.
Bryant Givens led CSU with 20 points on the day.
Landrius Horton added 14, while
Jalen Thomas came off the bench with 16.
"King is a very good basketball team," head coach
Robert Moore said. "I didn't think we were great today, but our guys never quit and continued to fight for 40 minutes."
After giving up the first five points, Columbus State scored six unanswered to take its only lead of the day at 6-5. King (2-0) took the lead back and stretched it out to seven at 19-12 midway through the opening half.
The Cougars worked their way back and Horton split a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game with less than four minutes until halftime. However, the Tornado used a late 10-1 run to lead 32-23 at the break.
Trailing by 12 with six minutes to play, Columbus State mounted a comeback to get back in the game. Thomas converted a three-point play and then knocked down a 3-pointer one minute later to bring the Cougars back within six.
King scored on its end, but Givens capped a quick 5-0 burst to make it 67-64 with three minutes to go. The Tornado responded with a 10-3 run to push the margin back out to double figures and wrap up the game.
The Cougars were 25-of-61 (41 percent) from the field on Saturday, struggling at 16.7 percent (4-for-24) from the 3-point line.
Columbus State will play its third straight game away from home on Monday night at Fort Valley State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
