Flagler Deals Blow to Cougars with 66-64 Win

Columbus, Ga. -- Peach Belt Conference newcomer dealt Columbus State's push for a PBC Tournament berth a blow on Thursday, handing the Cougars a 66-64 loss at the Lumpkin Center. The win was the first on the road for the Saints this season as they move to 8-14 overall and 3-10 in the PBC. CSU falls to 11-10 overall and 5-7 in league play.

The Cougars got some help from Lander on Thursday as the Bearcats knocked off Clayton State, leaving CSU tied with the Lakers in the PBC West Division for the fourth and final spot in the PBC Tournament with five games remaining in the season, including a head-to-head bout next Wednesday in Morrow. CSU needs a homecoming win Saturday against Armstrong Atlantic State to help shore up its chances.

Flagler got outstanding guard play from its two perimeter players on Thursday. John Pietkiewicz, son of former Auburn great Stan Pietkiewicz, led the Saints with 22 points, including five three-pointers. His partner on the perimeter, D.J. Ferguson, added 15 points and 10 assists in the game. Chad July added 11 points to go with 14 rebounds, while Kenny Moore pulled down another 10 boards.

Flagler led for a majority of the first half and held its largest margin of six points on three occasions, the last coming with 11:15 to go after a Justin Stokes jumper made it 19-13. CSU finally began to find some offense and started to whittle the margin.

Trailing 23-19 after a Pietkiewicz trey with 7:05 left, the Cougars scored seven unanswered points as part of a 14-3 run and took a 33-26 lead. Chris Telesford's jumper capped the run and gave CSU the seven-point cushion. Ferguson drilled a three-pointer for the Saints with seven seconds left to cut the Cougar margin to 37-33 at the half.

Flagler out-scored the Cougars 8-3 in the opening minutes of the second half and re-took the lead briefly at 41-40 on a Ferguson layup with less than four minutes gone. The Cougars bounced back and re-took the lead, stretching it once again to seven points over the next four minutes. Bryan Thomas' layup with 12:20 to play made it 53-46 at that point.

The Cougars were able to hold Flagler at arm's length for the next few minutes, but a scoring drought of over four minutes allowed the Saints to gain almost all of the momentum. Trailing 57-51 at the 9:35 mark, Flagler scored 10 unanswered points and took a 61-57 lead with 5:23 left. Two Kenny Moore free-throws ended the run, but the Saints would amass an overall 14-3 run over a nine-minute span and took a 65-60 lead with 20 seconds left.

CSU employed a quick foul strategy and it worked almost to perfection in the final 20 seconds. Moore missed two free-throws for Flagler after a Telesford jumper had cut the lead to 65-62. CSU got the rebound and then Bryant Thomas hit both ends of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left to make it 65-64. Another quick foul before the ball was put inbounds sent Eddie Fowler to the line for the Saints and he made one of two with 10 seconds left to make it 66-64.

CSU crossed midcourt quickly and called a timeout to set a final play with seven seconds left. The play put the ball in the hands of Telesford, who had an open look at a game-winner from 21 feet, but his shot was just offline and Pietkiewicz grabbed the rebound to seal the win.

Telesford had another strong game with 16 points and 15 rebounds on the night. Donta Ridley was the only other Cougar in double digits with 11 points. Lamar Williams scored the Cougars' first seven points in the game and did not score another point. Brandon Bland added eight points and Thomas seven. CSU shot just 30 percent in the pivotal second half and finished at 36 percent on the night. The Cougars were out-rebounded 47-46 and went just 9-17 at the free-throw line.

CSU hosts Armstrong Atlantic State in a Homecoming matchup on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center, while Clayton State will be on the road at Francis Marion on Saturday.