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SAINT AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Columbus State University men's basketball team tallied its third consecutive victory with a 90-87 win over Flagler on Wednesday night. The Peach Belt Conference game was played in Saint Augustine, Fla.
The trio of
Darius Joell,
JaCori Payne and
Rudy Winters all went for at least 20 points for the second straight game. Joell had 23 points and seven assists, while Payne and Winters each finished with 20.
Marcus Dixon had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, while
Vic Ellis added 11 points.
The victory, couple with losses by Georgia College and Lander, clinched a spot in next week's PBC Tournament. The Cougars are currently seventh in the conference standings.
"This group continues to fight," head coach
Robert Moore said. "It would have been really easy to pack things up and quit, but they keep battling and have played pretty good basketball over the last three games."
After falling behind 4-0, Columbus State (9-15, 9-12) went on an 11-0 run to get off to a fast start. Joell kept the Cougars in front early, knocking down his first three attempts from beyond the arc.
Flagler (9-16, 6-15) got back in front midway through the opening half and pulled out to a 47-40 edge at halftime.
CSU outscored the Saints 10-4 to start the second half to immediately pull back within one and Winters pushed the Cougars back in front at the 16-minute mark. Ellis later knocked down a 3-pointer to break a 56-all tie and start an 8-0 Cougar run that was capped off by a three-point play from Dixon.
The Cougars still had their work cut out for them though, as Flagler quickly cut the Columbus State lead to one at 68-67, but the Cougars kept finding the answer.
Ellis knocked down another shot from distance to extend the lead back to eight with just over three minutes to play. However, the Saints responded one more time and trailed 83-81 in the final minute.
The Cougars got another big shot from Ellis though, as the senior drilled a 3-pointer deep in the shot clock the helped seal the win. Joell and Winters each took care of business at the foul line in the last minute to give the Cougars their third straight win.
CSU shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) as a team on Wednesday, knocking down 10-of-24 3-point attempts.
Columbus State will finish off the regular season on Saturday against Clayton State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center.
