Big second half fuels Cougars in win over Georgia College
COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University men’s basketball team used an 11-2 run early in the second half to propel it to a 74-59 victory over Georgia College on Wednesday evening. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
The Cougars (12-4, 5-4 PBC) held a slim 29-28 lead at the half after a slow-paced first half. However, the second 20 minutes had a different feel to it.
Columbus State held a 36-33 lead just over 3 minutes into the half when a Darius Joell 3 jumpstarted an 11-2 spurt for the Cougars. A Marcus Dixon jumper and a fastbreak layup from JaCori Payne off a steal gave CSU its first double-digit lead of the night at 43-33. After a made bucket from Georgia College, jumpers in the paint from Payne and Arben Camaj pushed CSU’s lead to 47-35 with less than 13 minutes to play.
Georgia College (9-7, 3-4) cut the deficit to nine after a made 3, but that would be the closest the Bobcats would come. The Cougars put the game away with an impressive 16-4 run that saw the lead balloon to 66-44 with 5:23 left in the game. Five Cougars scored in the spurt, including five apiece from Jamal McKee and Joell.
“I was really pleased how the guys responded after halftime,” CSU head coach Robert Moore said. “We played the first half at Georgia College’s pace and it got us in trouble. I felt like our ball movement in the second half was smooth and the defense picked up its intensity.”
Joell and Payne were the leading scorers for CSU netting 16 and 15 points, respectively. Camaj had eight with a trio of Cougars with seven points.
CSU shot 44.6 percent (25-for-56) despite going 5-for-16 from 3 (31.3 percent). The Cougars did a good job at the line, shooting 70.4 percent (19-for-27).
Georgia College was 44.7 percent (21-for-47) overall, but CSU limited the Bobcats to a 38.5 percent mark in the second half. GC was 3-for-13 from beyond the arc and 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) from the free throw line.
Georgia College was in control early in the game as the Cougars didn’t take their first lead until the 11:53 mark on a John Lambert three that made it a 14-11 game. The lead would change a couple of times throughout the final minutes of the first half. The Cougars held a 24-20 lead with 3:34 to go until the break after a Vic Ellis three, but the Bobcats answered with six straight points to go back in front 26-24 with 93 seconds left.
The Cougars closed the half by scoring four of the final six points to take the one-point lead into the locker room.
Columbus State will be back in action this Saturday taking on Clayton State at 3:30 p.m. in Morrow, Ga.
This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Big second half fuels Cougars in win over Georgia College."