Cougars Fall 72-59 to #8 Augusta State

Columbus, Ga. -- Columbus State played tenaciously on defense on Saturday against #8 Augusta State, but the Jaguars cashed in at the free-throw line and took a 72-59 win over the Cougars. The win moves ASU to 17-2 overall and 9-1 in PBC play, while CSU is now 10-8, 4-5.

ASU went to the free-throw line 33 times on Saturday - 28 of those in the second half - and made 24 of those shots. That made a difference in the second half as the Jaguars managed just eight field goals in shooting 38 percent. In comparison, CSU got to the line just 11 times in the entire contest, and only five times in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cougars were shooting almost 49 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

The Cougars did not shoot the ball well in the opening frame, going just 9-26 (35 percent) and found themselves in a hole early. After seven-footer Jeremy Grimball started the game with a bang for CSU on a dunk just 11 seconds in, the offense went peculiarly silent. Augusta scored eight unanswered points and eventually ran off a 19-2 run to go up 19-4 with less than seven minutes gone in the period.

CSU could not get the margin back into single digits for the rest of the half, falling down by as many as 16 points after a Ben Madgen jumper with 1:39 left made it 32-16. Chris Telesford cut the margin to 33-20 as he hit a layup just before time expired in the period.

The Cougars cut the lead to single digits in the first two minutes of play in the second half, getting a Telesford jumper with 18:30 left to make it 35-26 and cap a 6-2 spurt. The Jaguars pulled back out to as much as a 13-point lead again after Alex Smith's layup made it 43-30 with 13:25 left.

CSU did not go away, however, and used a 7-1 run to get back within seven points. Donta Ridley's free-throw finished the run and made the score 44-37 - the closest the Cougars had been since early in the first half- with 10:42 left. CSU got the margin to seven points three other times in the next five minutes, but could never manage to get closer. Augusta then began to make its free-throws and pushed the lead back to double digits. CSU got within nine points twice in the final minute, but Fred Brathwaite, Madgen, and Franck Ndongo canned six straight free-throws in the final 38 seconds to seal the win.

Lamar Williams scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Cougars. Telesford had another solid game, going 4-6 from the floor to finish with 11 points and eight rebounds. Ridley and Brandon Bland each scored nine points. Nick Gagnon added eight boards.

Smith led the Augusta State offense with 22 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor and 6-7 from the line. Madgen added 21 points as he also went 8-15 and 4-5. Brathwaite, a Columbus native, led the Jaguars in rebounding with eight. Daniel Dixon added seven assists and four steals.

CSU wraps up a three-game homestand by hosting yet another top-25 team on Wednesday as #24 Montevallo comes to town for a PBC matchup at 7:30 p.m.