Columbus State knocks off No. 15 West Georgia

Columbus State was happy with the first two wins of the season, but the Cougars knew Saturday's opponent -- West Georgia -- presented a much bigger challenge.

Six players scored in double figures and the Cougars dominated inside for a 110-106 victory over the 15th-ranked Wolves at the Lumpkin Center.

"It is a great win for our program," CSU coach Robert Moore said. "It shows we have been working and doing things right.

"I tell the guys that championships are not won in November, but it gives us a gauge of how good we can be. Now, we have to stay humble and go back to work."

CSU led by as many as 20 points late in the first half, but the Wolves closed to within three on several occasions in the second half.

The Cougars led 103-93 with 1:02 left after Brent Jackson made a layup. West Georgia hit 3-pointers on three straight trips down the floor. Meanwhile, the Wolves were sending CSU to the free-throw line.

CSU made 7-of-12 over the last 48.2 seconds to preserve the win.

"We didn't crumble," Moore said. "I knew they would make a run, basketball is a game of runs."

Rebounding and interior defense was a concern for Moore prior to the start of the season starting. CSU outrebounded West Georgia 53-34 with Brentine Taylor leading with 11. Jackson had nine. The Cougars also finished with 11 blocked shots. Arben Camaj, DeMarcus McVay and Taylor had three apiece.

"And that is a tribute to our post players -- guys like Carmaj, Taylor, McVay," Moore said. "Then you see Brent Jackson went in there and rebounded the basketball.

"And we have been emphasizing that in practice because we know we got to go after the basketball to win games. I thought our guys did a great job with that today."

Columbus State came out red-hot from outside, making its first five 3-pointers. JaCori Payne had three of those, and Jackson had the other two.

That hot shooting paved the way as the Cougars built a 20-point lead, 53-33, with 4:56 left in the first half.

The Cougars got only a lone field goal from Payne in the final 4:56 as the Wolves clawed their way back into the game to trail 55-45 at halftime.

After Columbus State made 13 of first 16 shots, it made just 6 of last 21.

CSU did that without guard Cam Baker, who picked up two early fouls and spent the final 17:18 on the bench.

But Baker came back and played almost the entire second half before fouling out with 6.2 seconds left. Baker finished with 16 points and four assists with all of the points and three of the assists coming in the second half.

"I wanted to put him back in, but I was thinking how West Georgia plays and how the refs are calling it now, so close, and I didn't want him to pick up that third foul," Moore said. "So if we could withstand their pressure and keep a 10-point lead, I thought we were fine with him playing the whole 20 minutes of the second half. He knows he's the guy that had to get us going. it took a little bit of time to get going. but once he got going, he knows the ball has got to be in his hands."

Payne led CSU with 22 points, and Jackson added 20. Taylor had 17 with McVay adding 12 and Camaj 10.

West Georgia (2-1) was led by Iakeem Alston with 26.

CSU (3-0) will play against Benedict at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 in the Albany State Holiday Classic.

WEST GEORGIA (2-1)

Iakeem Alston 8-12 8-12 26; Steph Branch 9-17 3-7 23; Keron Briggs 8-14 0-0 22; Zach Taulien 5-13 0-0 14; Shannon Fowler 3-5 0-0 6; Dylan Dupree 3-5 0-1 6; Deontre Brown 2-5 0-0 5; Malick Kone 1-4 0-0 2; Willie Evans 1-3 0-0 2; Fredrik Boehn 0-1 0-0 0; Ivan Saicic 0-1 0-0 0; Christian Houston 0-2 0-0 0; Joseph Harrell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-82 11-20 106.

COLUMBUS STATE (3-0)

JaCori Payne 9-13 1-2 22; Brent Jackson 6-10 5-7 20; Brentine Taylor 7-13 3-6 17; Cam Baker 5-9 5-6 16; DeMarcus McVay 5-9 2-2 12; Arben Camaj 3-6 2-2 10; Darren Daniel 2-7 2-2 7; Matthias Sigurdarson 2-4 0-0 6; Marcus Dixon 0-0 0-0 0; Demetres Abrams 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 39-71 20-29 110.

West Georgia.................. 45 61 - 106

Columbus State................ 55 55 - 110

Halftime: Columbus State 55-45. 3-point goals--West Georgia 15-33 (Keron Briggs 6-11; Zach Taulien 4-11; Steph Branch 2-3; Iakeem Alston 2-3; Deontre Brown 1-1; Fredrik Boehn 0-1; Christian Houston 0-2; Willie Evans 0-1), Columbus State 12-24 (Brent Jackson 3-6; JaCori Payne 3-6; Arben Camaj 2-4; Matthias Sigurdarson 2-4; Cam Baker 1-1; Darren Daniel 1-3). Fouled out--West Georgia-None, Columbus State-Cam Baker. Rebounds--West Georgia 34 (Steph Branch 9), Columbus State 53 (Brentine Taylor 11). Assists--West Georgia 17 (Willie Evans 5), Columbus State 17 (Cam Baker 4). Total fouls--West Georgia 23, Columbus State 19. Technical fouls--West Georgia-Steph Branch, Columbus State-Brentine Taylor. A-302.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Columbus State knocks off No. 15 West Georgia ."