February 11, 2012

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Milledgeville, GA – The Columbus State University men's basketball battled through a ruckus environment and held only one slim lead as they suffered a setback to Georgia College 57-47 in a Peach Belt Conference tilt. The game was played at the Centennial Center in Milledgeville, GA. 

Ryan Aquino came out hot for the Bobcats (14-8, 7-6) scoring six of the team's first eight points as GC jumped out to an early 8-4 lead at the first media timeout with 14:23 left in the opening half. 

The Cougars (13-9, 8-5) wasted no time tying the game up on a Steve Peterson jumper and eventually took their lone lead of the game (11-10) as Idell Bell went 3-for-3 at the line after being fouled on a three-point attempt.   

Georgia College went on an 11-3 run to take a 21-14 lead at the 7:34 mark. Aqunio fueled the run scoring five points while Mike Augustine netted four. 

CSU would cut the deficit down to three before a three-pointer by Ryan Lively and a Cougar turnover that led to two points stretching Georgia College's lead to 26-19. 

Paul Darkwa would be fouled on the following possession calmly knocking down both free throws. An Aqunio shot would be offline leading to a Steve Peterson three bringing the Cougars within three (26-23) once again with 3:04 left in the half. 

Aquino would close the half out by scoring the final two baskets for the Bobcats as they took a 30-25 lead into the break. 

The two sides would continue exchanging baskets coming out of the locker room. The Cougars got within two (34-32) after yet another Peterson three-point basket with 16:47 showing on the clock. 

Back-to-back three-point field goals by Lively and Aquino allowed the Bobcats to build their lead back up to eight (40-32). 

The Cougars would not get any closer than four points of Georgia College for the rest of the way. The final time came at the 9:58 mark when Darius Mcknight laid in a bucket. 

In the final nine minutes of the half, the Cougars took 10 field goal attempts connecting on just two of them. 

Paul Darkwa led the Cougars in scoring with 15 points while Steve Peterson chipped in with 11. Peterson, a Columbus native, surpassed the 1,000 career point plateau during the game. 

Ryan Aquino led all scorers with 23 points. He was 9-of-17 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Jared Homes was also in double figures netting 10 points. 

The Bobcats committed just nine turnovers while the Cougars had 19 miscues. Also, the 47-points scored by CSU was the lowest amount of points the Cougars have scored this season. 

Columbus State will now turn their attention to Peach Belt Conference Western Division leaders Montevallo as the Cougars host UM Wednesday, February 15 inside the Lumpkin Center. The two teams are separated by one game in the standings. Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m.