COLUMBUS – Columbus State University men's basketball competed at Francis Marion (S.C.) on Wednesday night at the Smith University Center in Florence, S.C.
The Cougars (2-1) fell to the Patriots (1-2) in an 85-76 defeat.
First Half
Jehloni James opened with five points to give CSU an early advantage before the Patriots answered with five points of their own to level the score. After a lay from
Kordell Brown, FMU followed with another five points to lead 10-7 with less than 17 minutes to play.
Columbus State answered with a 9-0 run led by
Rakeim Gary, moving to a 16-10 lead with 14:42 on the clock. Both teams began to battle in back-and forth action, trading shots and giving away control of the lead.
After tying at the 10:24 mark and the 8:44 mark, CSU managed to hold a four-point edge with less than five minutes to play. Unfortunately, the hosts began to chip away at the deficit and would eventually close out the half ahead of the Cougars 43-38.
Second Half
Both teams traded a free throw to open the second half as Francis Marion led by six points. The hosts followed up with an 8-0 run to move to a 53-39 lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
The Cougars struggled to find scoring with the first bucket from the field falling at the 15:32 mark from
Jordan Mitchell. CSU moved the deficit down to 11 points with a layup from Hames with 14 minutes to play, but FMU charged with a 13-3 run that moved their lead to 23 points with eight minutes left.
Columbus State bounced back with a 7-0 run led by five points from
Jarrett Adderton. Sadly, the CSU defense could not get stops as FMU went on another run this time outscoring the Cougars 12-5 to lead 81-58 with four minutes remaining.
The Cougars finished on a high note but ran out of time. CSU closed the game outscoring FMU 18-4 in the final few minutes to fall 85-76.
Inside the Numbers
- Columbus State shot for 39% (30-of-77) from the field, 21.2% (7-of-33) from three, and 81.8% (9-of-11) from the foul line.
- James led the scoring with 18 points, adding seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
- Adderton tallied 13 points while Gary totaled 12 and added five assists.
- Brown led off the glass with eight boards.
- The Patriots led 42-37 in rebounds.
- CSU's defense scored 14 points off 14 turnovers from the hosts.
Next Up
- Columbus State takes Miles (Ala.) in the Clayton State Classic on Friday night at 5 p.m. ET in Morrow, Ga.
