Augusta, GA - Columbus State rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to take a nine-point lead in the second half, but could not hold off a late Jaguar run in falling 81-75 to Augusta State in the Peach Belt Conference opener for both schools. CSU falls to 7-5 (0-1 in the PBC), while Augusta State moves to 9-3 (1-0).
"We got hot in the second half and made a bunch of shots," said CSU coach Doug Branson. "We spent some energy getting back in the game and making our run and I think we sort of lost our legs a little and lost our defensive intensity. That (defense) is where we were winning the game and when we lost that intensity, they were able to make their run."
ASU out-scored the Cougars 15-2 over the first six minutes of play. That run became 23-8 by the 12:02 mark when Tyrekus Bowman hit a layup for two of his 19 first-half points. Bowman also completed a rare first-half double-double with 10 rebounds in the period. The CSU offense finally responded and used a 19-7 run to pull the margin to just 30-27 with 5:09 to play in the half. ASU out-scored the Cougars 4-2 over the remaining time to take a 34-29 lead into halftime.
CSU came out in the second half with intensity on both ends of the floor. Trailing 38-29 after ASU scored the first four points of the half, CSU got a trey from Corris Portis and used that to fuel a 22-7 run. An Alton Hart layup with 15:26 left gave the Cougars their first lead of the contest, and his second layup less than a minute later capped the big run and gave CSU a 51-45 lead.
CSU took its biggest lead at 56-47 with 13:24 left on a Ron Robinson triple. At that point, ASU began to take advantage of some defensive fatigue by CSU and started to whittle away at the lead. After Ben Madgen's three-pointer tied the game at 61 with 8:29 left, Robinson put the Cougar back up by four by completing a rare four-point play. He drained a three-pointer, was fouled, and made the ensuing free-throw for a 65-61 lead. The Jags responded with a 14-4 run to re-take the lead for good. Two Demetrius Howard hit two free-throws with 2:31 left to give ASU a 75-69 lead.
CSU got treys from Justin Wilson and Robinson to get back to within two points with 50 seconds left, but Augusta State sealed the game by hitting four free-throws in the final 39 seconds.
"We got some momentum with our run early in the half, but we just did not continue it and finish it off. Give them (ASU) credit, though, they did some nice things and started going back inside to what they had been successful with in the first half. Now we have to re-group, re-focus, and get ready to play on Saturday," said Branson.
Bowman finished with a game-high 29 points to go with 18 rebounds to lead the Jaguars. Daniel Dixon added 15, while Madgen tallied 14 and Garret Siler 10. ASU shot 50 percent in the second half and 43 percent overall.
Robinson led CSU with 21 points - 15 of those on treys - and six assists. Corris Portis added 15 points and five rebounds, while Alton Hart collected another double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to go with three blocked shots. CSU shot 44 percent in the second half to finish at 39.7 percent overall. The Cougars won the battle of the boards 47-38, but committed 18 turnovers to just eight for the Jaguars.
CSU continues its PBC road trip on Saturday, heading to UNC Pembroke for a 4 PM matchup. Augusta State makes the short trip to USC Aiken on Saturday night at 7:30.
Source: Columbus State University Sports Information
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment