COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University men's basketball team grabbed its first win against a top-10 nationally ranked opponent in over a decade on Monday night as the Cougars upset No. 8 Augusta University 73-62 inside Peach Belt Conference play.

Langston Gaither scored 17 points while Hunter Preston and Devan Porter-Wilson each added 12 to lead the Cougars to its first win over a top-10 team since the 2009-10 season when CSU defeated then ranked No. 2 Valdosta State University.

"Awesome game tonight for the guys," commented head coach Robert Moore. "Both teams brought it tonight, and you could feel the intensity in the building. It was a big-game atmosphere, and I'm glad the guys stepped up when they had to."

After a slow offensive start by both teams, CSU (8-2, 1-1 PBC) broke open an 11-11 game by scoring the next eight points, including hitting two 3-pointers. 

Porter-Wilson gave CSU a 26-16 lead with his second 3-pointer of the night with 4:48 left to play in the first, but Augusta wouldn't let the Cougars run away. AU would go on an 8-2 run before the final minute to close the gap to 28-24. However, Christian Chambers nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 31-24 halftime lead.

Early in the second, the Cougars went up by a game-high 11, 41-30, after a put-back dunk by Nelson Haskin before Augusta got hot. Miguel Arnold went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to fuel an 11-0 Jaguar run to tie the game at 43 with less than 14 to play.

The Cougars had an answer though, hitting on three 3-pointers of their own to run off a 10-1 spurt to regain control of the game. 

Augusta (9-1, 0-1) cut the lead back to four on multiple occasions until a 3-pointer by Porter-Wilson at the 6:41 mark ended all of AU's momentum.

Columbus State shot 40 percent (26-for-65) as a team, including going 12-for-28 (42.9%) from beyond the arc. Augusta shot 40.7% (22-for-54), but posted just a 34.8% (8-for-23) mark from 3-point range.

UP NEXT
Columbus State will take the holidays off before returning to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. against Flagler College inside the Lumpkin Center.

COUGAR NOTES
• The Cougars shot 47.1% in the second half, including knocking down 7-of-15 from downtown
• The Cougar bench outscored AU's 23-10
• Haskin led the Cougars with 10 rebounds. It was his second 10-plus board game of the year
• Lederrius Jones dished out eight assists. The eight assists are the most by any Cougar this season
• CSU is 2-0 against top-25 ranked teams this season
• The Cougars have won four straight at home