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ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The Columbus State University men's basketball team came away with a thrilling 82-75 overtime win on the road Wednesday night over Flagler.
The Cougars scored the opening bucket of the overtime period and didn't look back as they led the entire time and outscored the Saints 13-6 in the extra five minutes of action.
"This was a big win for us being able to come back from a double-digit deficit on the road," said head coach Robert Moore. "Despite not shooting as well as we know we can our guys got after it defensively and forced turnovers to get us back in it. Hopefully this gives us the momentum we need as we head back to the Lumpkin Center."
Junior Bryant Givens stuffed the stat sheet all night finishing with a game high 23 points to go along with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. His biggest assist of the night came with :14 remaining in regulation and the Cougars trailing by two. Givens drove to his right and hung in the air before throwing a behind the back pass to Xavier Williams who put it in off the glass to force overtime.
Williams scored the first five points for the Cougars in extra time as he finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four steals. Landrius Horton picked up another double-double in the victory finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Stanley Taylor rounded out the double figure scorers for CSU chipping in another 16 points.
Flagler opened up their largest lead of the night with just over 14 minutes left in the second half taking a 48-36 lead over the Cougars. Every time CSU tried to make a push it was the Saints responding with big shots to extend their lead.
But with 8:54 remaining and a seven point Flagler lead, the Cougars dug deep and came roaring back to make it a ballgame down the stretch. Horton and Taylor hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to one. Another three from Horton plus six free throws from CSU capped off their 15-2 run as they took a 67-61 lead with 5:16 left.
With the game tied at 67 apiece with two minutes remaining, neither team could jump in front until Flagler hit two free throws with just :23 remaining. A timeout then set the stage for the Cougar heroics from Williams followed by a defensive stop to force the overtime.
As a team, CSU shot 40.0 percent (26-for-65) from the floor and 31 percent (9-for-29) from three.
Columbus State will be back at home on Saturday, Feb. 2 hosting Clayton State. Tipoff will be at 3:30 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.
