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COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University men's basketball team came away with a huge 68-60 win over Flagler Wednesday to officially clinch a spot in the upcoming PBC Tournament. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
Stanley Taylor led the Cougars with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting including hitting four three-pointers.
Bryant Givens added 14 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Jalen Thomas rounded out the double figure scorers adding another 11 for the Cougars.
"I thought we did a good job grinding out this win thanks to our defense," said head coach
Robert Moore. "We told each other to believe and stay confident in your shot because we knew they would eventually start to drop for us in the second half."
Despite a poor shooting performance, the Cougars grinded out a strong defensive second half outscoring the Saints by 13 in their final home game of the season. Down by five at the half, Givens opened the second half scoring seven of the first nine points to put CSU on top 36-34 just one minute and fifty seconds in.
The two teams would trade the lead back and forth with Flagler eventually opening up another five point advantage at 43-38 with 13:27 remaining in the game. But that's when Taylor would catch fire for the Cougars. The junior hit two jumpers while
DeMarcus McVay notched a tip-in to tie the game at 44-apiece.
Two more Taylor three-pointers over the next three minutes would give CSU what was their largest lead at the time at 58-50 with 7:52 left. After a quick response on a three from the Saints, the Cougars defense would clamp down the rest of the game. They allowed Flagler to score just seven total points in the final seven minutes.
Givens gave the Cougars the early lead thanks to scoring seven of the first nine points of the game putting CSU on top 9-3. After three-pointers from Taylor and Thomas, the Cougars were up seven halfway through the first half. But the hot start would disappear for CSU as they went through a 1-for-19 stretch from the field. Despite the misses, their defense kept them within striking distance trailing by just five at the half.
The win coupled with losses from North Georgia and Clayton State secured the Cougars into the eighth and final spot for the upcoming Peach Belt Conference tournament.
As a team, Columbus State shot 35.3 percent (24-for-68) and 36.0 percent (9-for-25) from three.
The Cougars will hit the road for a game against Clayton State on Saturday, March 1. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
