Columbus State Men's Basketball Announces 2010-11 Schedule

COLUMBUS - Columbus State University head coach Robert Moore has announced the 2010-11 men's basketball schedule.  It includes 26 games, 14 of which are played in the friendly confines of the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center.

Taking over the program in mid-April, Coach Moore had plenty of work to do in order to get ready for his first year in charge of the Cougar program.  One of his top priorities was putting together a demanding schedule for his players that would challenge them every game.  While most of the schedule was set before he took the reigns, he was able to add some quality opponents into the mix.  Columbus State will play 16 games versus schools with a winning record last year.  On top of that, eight games are against teams that participated in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The season gets underway November 15 on the road against the University of Alabama-Huntsville.  UAH set their school record for victories in a season since becoming a NCAA sponsored school with 23 and the sixth most wins all-time last year.  Columbus State leads the all-time series with a 12-5 mark against the Chargers.  

After a week off, CSU returns to the court for its home opener on November 22 when it takes on Carver Bible College, the first of five straight home contests.  CBC will be returning Cory Evans, the ninth leading scorer in the country last season in the National Christian College Athletic Association, who averaged 19.8 points per game.  The Cougars play host to the University of West Florida on November 29, who they split with last season, defeating them 91-76 on November 16.  Talladega College (Dec. 4), Alabama-Huntsville (Dec. 7) and USC-Aiken (Dec. 11) conclude the homestand for Columbus State.  All three teams made the postseason a year ago.

"I feel we have a very competitive schedule this year," said Moore.  "We play five of our first six games at home which gives our fans a chance to see us early and support the new looking Cougars.  We want to play an exciting brand of basketball that people enjoy watching."

Four of the next six games will be on the road starting off with a trip to Pensacola, FL to finish off the home-and-home series with West Florida.  The game will be played on December 15 with a 7:00 p.m. (CT) tip-off.  Hiwassee College comes to the Lumpkin Center December 19 and Brewton-Parker College visits Columbus for the first game of 2011 on January 5.  Sandwiched in between the two contests is a road game at Shaw University December 29.  In-state games versus North Georgia (Jan. 8) and Clayton State (Jan. 12) close out the road trip.

The final homestand of the year kicks-off with back-to-back afternoon games against UNC-Pembroke (Jan. 15) and Francis Marion (Jan. 16), beginning at 3:30 p.m.  NCAA Tournament participant Georgia College & State University comes to town for a crucial contest January 19. The Cougars dropped two tough decisions to GCSU last year, both by two points.  The final contest of the stand will be against Georgia Southwestern (Jan. 22) who CSU swept a year ago.  

Columbus State will hit the road again for an extended period playing three straight and five out of its next six games away from the Lumpkin Center.  Lander University (Jan. 27), Augusta State (Jan. 29) and the University of Montevallo (Feb. 2) make up the beginning of the trip.  Augusta State and Montevallo are coming off very successful campaigns with ASU reaching the "Elite 8" and Montevallo making it to the "Sweet 16".

A pit stop in Columbus to host North Georgia takes place on February 5 before heading to Flagler (Feb. 10) and Armstrong Atlantic (Feb. 12).  The regular season closes out with a game versus Clayton State (Feb. 16), two road contests against Georgia College (Feb. 19) and Georgia Southwestern (Feb. 23), and Senior Day on February 26 against Montevallo.