BLUFFTON, S.C. – The No. 7-ranked Columbus State men's basketball team captured the program's seventh Peach Belt Conference title on Wednesday and the first outright championship outside of divisional play since the 2005-06 season.
 
The Cougars (24-3, 15-2) traveled to the Palmetto State on Wednesday night for a PBC clash at USC Beaufort, downing the Sand Sharks (18-9, 10-7 PBC) in an 83-72 victory in "The Cove" in Bluffton, S.C. With the win, Columbus State moves to an eight-game wave of wins and finishing the regular season with a 10-2 record on the road.
 
First Half
 
Columbus State pushed USC Beaufort back on the ropes early into the game, opening with an 8-0 run in the first two and half minutes of play. Jarrett Adderton began his career night with a trey at the 19:44 mark and was followed by five unanswered points from Kordell Brown. CSU managed to move to a 16-6 lead at the 15:39 mark led by a trey from Wisdom Uboh and another long-range basket from Adderton.
 
The Sand Sharks eventually found a rhythm, going on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to level the game at 18-18. USCB went 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from both the three-point line and charity stripe during the run. A pull-up jumper from Uboh at the 11:21 mark helped to spark an 11-3 run in response for the Cougars to move to a 29-21 lead.
 
Columbus State continued to control the scoreline, taking care of a 9-4 stretch to lead 38-25 with less than five minutes to play. Masiah Jones knocked down a three-pointer to lead the CSU scoring efforts in the run. CSU managed to battle it out down the stretch and held onto a convincing 49-34 lead at the halftime break as Adderton would go on to score all 11 of CSU's final points.
 
In the half, CSU shot for 48.6% (18-of-37) from the field, 56.3% (9-of-16) from three, and a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line. The Cougars matched a season-high nine threes for a first-half performance, previously set in the win over Middle Georgia back on Jan. 2. Adderton had quite the first half, scoring 19 points to lead the game.
 
Second Half
 
Adderton continued to produce early in the second half, scoring all the Cougars' six points scored in the first four minutes of play which helped boost the advantage to 55-41. USCB fought hard to pull within a single-digit deficit and managed to pull it down to five points at the 10:04 mark with a 15-6 run that covered five minutes.
 
Columbus State quickly shutdown any momentum from the hosts with a following 11-0 gut punch that took all the wind out of the Sand Sharks' sails for a 72-56 lead. CSU was led by another scoring stretch from Adderton who dropped seven points to move his total to 34 with 7:03 to play. In the stretch, CSU went 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-4 from the foul line.
 
USCB would not go down without a fight, surging back into the game with a 9-0 run to pull the deficit down to 72-65 with 3:35 to play. Despite the late surge, CSU held onto the lead and outscored USCB in the final two-and-a-half-minute stretch to secure the 83-72 victory.
 
The Cougars finished the half with a 34-point performance, shooting for 43.8% (14-of-32) from the field, 28.6% (2-of-7) from beyond-the-arc, and 66.7% (4-of-6) from the foul line. Adderton added another 17 points in the half to lead the scorers with Jehloni James totaling six and Uboh scoring five.
 
Inside the Numbers

• CSU shot for 46.4% (32-of-69) from the field, 47.8% (11-of-23) from three, and 80% (8-of-10) from the foul line.
• Adderton gathered a career-best 36 points, beating his previous best of 35 points set earlier this season.
• Adderton added a team-leading nine rebounds as well.
• Uboh followed with 11 points with James behind with 10 points as well as nine boards alongside Adderton.
• Roman Son picked up eight points and a team-high of five assists and three steals.
• CSU defense gathered 10 steals on 13 turnovers from USCB, scoring18 points of the Sand Sharks' miscues.
• CSU led 37-34 off the glass.
• The Cougars pick up the seventh PBC title in program history ('93-'94, '95-'96, '02-'03, '05-'06, '15-'16, and '16-'17)
• CSU earns the #1 seed for the PBC tournament, opening postseason play on Mar. 5 at the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center.

Next Up

• Columbus State hosts Georgia College on Sunday, Mar. 2 at 3 p.m. ET for Senior Day and the for the regular season finale.