ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Trailing by five with 95 seconds to go, the Columbus State University men's basketball team scored the final six points of the game to stun Flagler for a 74-73 victory Saturday afternoon. The Peach Belt Conference game took place at Flagler Gym in St. Augustine, Fla.

It was the Cougars (14-10, 9-7 PBC) who first squandered a lead. CSU held a 36-24 lead in the opening minute of the second half before FC started to inch its way back into the game. 

By the 7:28 mark, Allante Pickens put the Saints ahead with a 3-pointer to complete the rally. 

The two teams exchanged buckets before the Saints threatened to run away from the Cougars. With the game tied at 62, Flagler ran off seven quick points to take a 69-62 advantage with 3:19 to play. 

The deficit remained at five (73-68) with under two to play when Anthony Moore hit a jumper off a pass from Bryant Givens. After a timeout, Cam Paulding stole a pass leading to a Landrius Horton fastbreak jumper to pull the Cougars with one.

On the following possession, CSU's defense came up clutch once again with another steal, this time by Moore, setting up a potential game-winning shot.

Following a Cougar timeout with 14 seconds to go, a Givens pass found an open L. Horton in the post where the senior calmly nailed a shot to put Columbus State ahead 74-73.

Relying on the defensive stop to win the game, the Cougars withstood a last chance layup attempt by Derrick Ellis Jr. to secure the critical road contest.

"This was a game full of ups-and-downs," commented head coach Robert Moore. "It's never easy in this league, and it's been showing over the past few weeks."

"I have to give credit to the guys for digging deep and finding a way to pull this one out. Hopefully, we can use this as a launching point for the stretch run."

In his best performance of the season, L. Horton scored 30 points behind a 13-for-19 shooting performance. He had seven rebounds to go along with four assists. Moore had 16 points while Givens had a 15-point, 11-assist double-double.

As a team, the Cougars shot 47.7 percent (31-for-65) from the floor, but were just 5-for-19 from beyond the arc. CSU got to the free throw line 10 times, hitting seven.

It was all Columbus State early. After Flagler (11-13, 7-9) scored the opening bucket of the game, the Cougars ran off 12 straight points to gain a double-digit lead less than eight minutes into the game. 

After Flagler pulled within three (20-17) with just over five to play until the break, Columbus State stretched the margin back out to double-digits. Givens hit two 3-pointers that fueled a 12-4 Cougar run to give Columbus State a 32-22 halftime lead.

Up Next

Columbus State will return to the Lumpkin Center to close out the season series against Clayton State. Tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. 

Cougar Notes

• L. Horton becomes the first Cougar this season to score 30 or more points in a game. The 30 points are a career-best for the senior.
• It was the first road victory for Columbus State since Jan. 29 against Georgia Southwestern.
• It was the second time this season that Givens has tallied 10 or more assists in a game. It was also his second double-double of the year.
• The Cougars have shot under 27 percent from three in each of the past three games. However, CSU is 2-1 in the stretch. 
• Columbus State improves to 12-2 all-time against Flagler, including winning six straight.