AMERICUS, Ga. - The Columbus State University men's basketball team scored a season-high 97 points en route to a 97-71 road victory over Georgia Southwestern University in Americus, Ga. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside The Storm Dome.

Four Cougars scored at least 16 points, led by an impressive 19-point, 16-rebound double-double from Hunter Preston. The senior was 7-for-12 from the floor, including a 3-for-4 mark on 3-point attempts.

Nelson Haskin had five dunks, helping the junior to 18 points, while Langston Gaither and Grant Howard scored 18 and 17, respectively. Haskin added eight rebounds and three blocks with Gaither picking up five assists. 

"We really spread the ball around tonight," commented head coach Robert Moore. "I've been telling the guys that we have to start hitting shots and that we needed someone to get hot. I was impressed with what I saw tonight, and we got to keep taking things one game at a time."

Columbus State (17-8, 8-7 PBC) wasted no time, jumping out to a commanding 22-6 lead. Preston nailed two early 3-pointers in the run, while Haskin set the tone with a few early dunks. 

The shots continued to fall for the Cougars as the lead ballooned to 27 after Devan Porter-Wilson connected on a 3-pointer to push the score to 41-14 with 6:14 to go in the half. CSU scored nine of the final 10 points of the first go into the break up 55-21.

Columbus State's lead was never in doubt in the second as GSW (9-15, 5-11 PBC) never got within less than 17 of the lead. The Cougars were able to stretch the lead back out to nearly 30 towards the latter part of the game as Noah Lott hit two 3-pointers and late added a layup for eight late points for CSU.

The Cougars shot 52.2% (35-for-67) from the floor, including a 43.5% (10-for-23) mark from 3-point range. 

Jacorie Archie scored 21 to lead the way for the Hurricanes. As a team, GSW was 38.1% from the floor and 8-for-22 on 3-pointers.

UP NEXT
Columbus State will host the University of North Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 19 inside the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center. It will be Senior Day for the Cougars. Tipoff is at 3:30 p.m.

COUGAR NOTES
• CSU shot 66.67% (22-for-33) in the first half and was 7-for-13 (53.85%) on its 3-point attempts
• The 16 rebounds tied a career-high for Preston. It was the sixth double-double of the year for the senior, all coming in conference play
• CSU's 43.5% 3-point shooting percentage was its second-best this season (Lander - 45.8%)
• It's the first time Columbus State had five or more blocks in a game since recording 10 against USC Aiken on Feb. 2, a span of three games. CSU averages 4.5 blocks per game
• The Cougars remain in the fifth position in the PBC standings after Wednesday night. CSU is two games behind USC Aiken for the fourth spot, with three games to play.
• Columbus State was 10th in the initial NCAA Southeast Region rankings. The top-eight teams advance to the NCAA Tournament