Columbus State men remain tied for Peach Belt lead

The Columbus State men's basketball team took care of North Georgia 89-75 on Saturday afternoon at the Lumpkin Center. In doing so, the Cougars remained tied for the overall Peach Belt Conference championship and the Western Division crown.

Both Montevallo and Young Harris won Saturday, so the three teams head into next week's regular-season finale in a three-way tie in the West. Lander lost on Saturday to Augusta, so Lander fell a game behind the three Western Division leaders for the top spot in the conference.

Columbus State will close out the regular season at Clayton State on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Montevallo will play at Young Harris. If CSU wins, it will share the PBC championship with the Montevallo-Young Harris winner. The conference does not break ties for the regular-season championship.

The league title would be the Cougars' first since the 2005-06 season.

A win against Clayton State would also assure CSU of finishing in the top two in the West, which would mean a home game in the first round of the PBC tournament on Feb. 28.

"We didn't get off to the start that we wanted to, but we found our gear midway through the first half and I was pleased with the effort from there," CSU coach Robert Moore said. "We need to play with that intensity for the whole 40 minutes and stop taking periods of the game off."

Columbus State (19-6, 13-5 PBC) started the game cold, going just 2-for-17 from the floor, but North Georgia was only able to build a 14-5 advantage.

But the Cougars managed to tie the game at 35-35 at intermission.

CSU went on an 8-1 run

early in the second half for a 50-42 lead.

CSU'sd biggest lead was 15 points, 88-73.

Cam Baker led the Cougars with 19 points. Brent Jackson added 17. Arben Camaj finished with 12 and Brentine Taylor added 11. DeMarcus McVay was one point shy of a double-double as he finished the night with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

NORTH GEORGIA (6-21, 4-14 PBC)

Sean Brennan 9-12 5-10 24; Ebo Smith 4-15 7-7 18; Michael Varrichione 4-9 1-3 9; Roderick English 2-5 3-6 8; Tanner Plemmons 3-10 0-0 7; T.J. Williams 3-7 0-1 6; Taylor Guthrie 1-3 0-0 3; Dylen Setzekorn 0-0 0-0 0; Tyre Gathright 0-0 0-0 0; Juan Rivas 0-3 0-0 0; Jordan Konior 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-64 16-27 75.

COLUMBUS STATE (19-6, 13-5 PBC)

Cam Baker 7-14 5-6 19; Brent Jackson 7-14 0-0 17; Arben Camaj 5-8 2-5 12; Brentine Taylor 4-8 3-4 11; DeMarcus McVay 4-8 1-2 9; JaCori Payne 1-6 5-6 8; Darren Daniel 2-6 1-2 7; Matthias Sigurdarson 1-1 0-0 3; Markis Boyd 0-0 2-2 2; Jamal McKee 0-1 1-2 1; Marcus Dixon 0-0 0-2 0; Denard Williams 0-0 0-0 0; Demetres Abrams 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-69 20-31 89.

Halftime--Tied at 35-35. 3-point goals--North Georgia 7-26 (Ebo Smith 3-8; Tanner Plemmons 1-7; Roderick English 1-3; Sean Brennan 1-2; Taylor Guthrie 1-3; Juan Rivas 0-2; Michael Varrichione 0-1), Columbus State 7-21 (Brent Jackson 3-6; Darren Daniel 2-3; Matthias Sigurdarson 1-1; JaCori Payne 1-4; Jamal McKee 0-1; Demetres Abrams 0-2; Arben Camaj 0-1; Cam Baker 0-3). Fouled out--North Georgia-None, Columbus State-None. Rebounds--North Georgia 39 (Michael Varrichione 10), Columbus State 48 (DeMarcus McVay 11). Assists--North Georgia 14 (Sean Brennan 6), Columbus State 10 (Demetres Abrams 4). Total fouls--North Georgia 22, Columbus State 22. Technical fouls--North Georgia-None, Columbus State-None. A-763.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Columbus State men remain tied for Peach Belt lead ."