COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University men's basketball team couldn't quite complete the late rally as they fell to Xavier (LA) 66-64 in their home opener on Saturday afternoon. The nonconference game took place at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center in Columbus, Ga. 

Anthony Moore led the Cougars in the scoring department putting up 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting while adding five rebounds. Landrius Horton and Bryant Givens were the only other Cougars in double figures scoring 12 and 11 respectively. 

"Credit to Xavier who brought the energy in their defense and on the glass, said head coach Robert Moore. "We didn't hit our early shots from distance which allowed them to stay in that zone to protect their lead. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for our team, knowing that we need to bring it each and every day on defense."

CSU shot 43 percent (25-58) overall but struggled from behind the arc, going just 7-for-27 from distance.

Columbus State will have a week off as they won't be back on the court until next Saturday to take on Tuskegee. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.
 

Play-by-Play

First Half

The Cougars started excellent jumping out to the early 18-9 lead behind four points from Moore and 3-pointers by Horton and Stanley Taylor. But CSU would go scoreless for five consecutive minutes as the Gold Rush reeled off a 10-0 run to take the one-point advantage. The score would remain a one-possession game until the final seconds as Xavier (LA) completed a three-point play to take a 35-30 lead into the halftime break.

Second Half

Xavier (LA) came out firing in the second half opening up a double-digit lead at 48-37 thanks to a three from Cameron Dumas. But the Cougars would slowly chip away at the deficit. Back-to-back 3's from Taylor and Chris Horton and then a breakaway dunk by Horton made it a 50-49 game. Columbus State would tie the game twice late but the Gold Rush continued to hold them off in the final minutes. Xavier (LA) would go 4-for-4 from the free throw line and a layup in the final seconds would seal the Cougars fate.

 

Inside the Numbers

• Columbus State dropped to 2-2 on the season. • CSU shot just 43 percent from the field, their worst output of the year. • The Cougars were out-rebounded for the second time this season as the Gold Rush held a plus-seven rebounding margin. • Today marked the worst shooting percentage from distance in 2019-20 as CSU went 7-for-27 behind the arc. • Columbus State lost their first home opener since 2011, when CSU fell by one to West Georgia. • The Cougars last lead in the game was at 20-19 with 5:45 left in the first half.