AUGUSTA, Ga. - Playing without one of its leading scorers, the Columbus State University men's basketball team suffered a 74-64 setback to Augusta on Saturday. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside Christenberry Fieldhouse in Augusta, Ga.
It was a back-and-forth affair early on until Augusta used an 19-4 run late in the first half to open a 40-24 margin. The Cougars were able to rally in the second, cutting the deficit to six on a few occasions. After a pair of Hunter Preston free throws made it 49-43 with 11:25 to play, seven quick points by the Jaguars pushed the lead back over 10. CSU was unable to recover dropping its third straight game at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
"It's hard to come back when you put yourself in a huge hole early, especially on the road," said head coach Robert Moore. "We all know Augusta is a tough team to play and they made us pay for our mistakes."
"There are no excuses. Every team goes through adversity throughout the year. We need guys to step up and be ready to play on Wednesday."
Anthony Moore had his second straight 20-plus point outing with a career-high 25 on 11-of-17 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds tying Bryant Givens for the team lead. Preston was the only other Cougar in double figures in scoring with 10.
Columbus State (12-8, 7-5 PBC) didn't have the stroke working on Saturday shooting 42.9 percent overall (24-for-56) and 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from three. The Cougars were 11-for-16 at the line (68.8%).
Columbus State will return to Columbus on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to host Georgia College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.
| Play-by-Play |
| First Half |
The Cougars raced out to a 5-3 lead before nine consecutive points by Augusta changed the tide. CSU weathered the storm after Hunter Preston gave the Cougars some life on offense off the bench. Preston helped CSU pull even at 16 with six points in his first four minutes of action. The two sides would exchange mini-runs with the Cougars trailing 21-20 following five straight CSU points with 8:26 showing on the clock. That's when Augusta took over, closing the half by scoring 19 of the final 25 points to take a 40-26 lead.
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| Second Half |
Anthony Moore was excellent for CSU over the second half hitting a jumper to start a 7-0 run for the Cougars that quickly cut the deficit to seven (40-33). After the Jags scored their first bucket of the half with 16:21 remaining, a 3-pointer from Stanley Taylor made the score 42-36. The lead hovered around 10 over the next few minutes until another Taylor trifecta and a pair of free throws by Preston brought the Cougars within six once again at 49-43. That would be as close as CSU would get for the remainder of the game. A 10-2 run allowed the Jags to open a 14-point advantage (59-45) with less than seven to go. Moore hammered down a dunk to make it 59-50, but Augusta answered closing the door on any comeback attempt.
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| Inside the Numbers |
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• Columbus State was without Landrius Horton for the first time this season. Horton is the team's leading scorer at the start of the day averaging 14.1 points per game.
• For the week, Anthony Moore averaged 24.5 points and nine rebounds in two games. He was 23-for-32 (71.9%) from the floor. On Saturday, the junior had 19 second half points.
• Only three Cougars hit a 3-pointer on Saturday (Stanley Taylor, Chris Horton, Bryant Givens).
• Columbus State made all five of its 3-pointers in the second half.
• The Cougars had nine assists in the game while Givens had three. The senior ranks inside the top-25 nationally in assists per game.
• In Augusta's 19-6 run to close the first half, CSU was 2-for-10 from the field with two turnovers.
• CSU was outscored in the paint 20-8.
• CSU was looking for two regular-season wins against Augusta for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
• Augusta now leads the all-time series 48-35.
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