COLUMBUS, Ga.----Columbus State placed five players in double figures here Monday night and held off a pesky Lander squad 77-67 in Peach Belt Conference basketball action.
With the win, CSU, 18-7 overall, moves in to a tie for second place in the league standings with Armstrong Atlantic State and Clayton State at 12-4, one game behind league leaders Georgia College & State University. Lander falls to 6-16 overall and 3-12 in the PBC.
Ron Robinson broke out of a personal shooting slump to sizzle the nets for 25 points. The junior point guard hit five three-pointers and went 7-14 overall from the floor after failing to score in the second half of Saturday's game at Augusta State. Senior forward Ransom Antoine added 21 points, while Will Davis added 11. The Cougars got 10 points each from Corris Portis and Quay Holloway.
The game got off to a somewhat sluggish start with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm. Lander used a 9-0 run near the mid-point of the half to build a 19-13 lead - its biggest of the
contest - fueled by three-pointers from Jahi Rawlings and Jarred Jackson. A Jackson free-throw closed the run at the 10:46 mark. CSU scored seven unanswered points to re-take the lead. An Antoine
runner capped the small run and gave the Cougars a 20-19 lead with 9:45 left. After the lead changed hands again less than a minute later, the Cougars took the lead again on a Quay Holloway three-
pointer with 8:16 left and would go on to post a 34-29 lead at the half.
Lander out-scored the Cougars 15-9 over the first six minutes of the second half and took a 44-43 lead with 14:19 to play on a Michael Griffin layup. That would prove to beh the Bearcats' last lead in the
game as CSU answered with another small run to take charge. Robinson drilled a long three-pointer to start a 7-2 run, and a Corris Portis tray capped the run, making it 51-45 with 12:26 left. Lander would get no closer than five points the rest of the way. The Cougars broke the game open with another mini-run, this one a 7-1 spurt to take a 66-55 lead with 5:38 left. CSU would lead by as many as 13 points before taking the 10-point win.
The Cougars shot 48 percent in the second half to finish at 41 percent for the night. CSU hit 12 of 33 three-pointers (36 percent) and were out-rebounded 41-33.
Lander was led by Jackson's 17 points off the bench, comprised mostly of five treys in seven attempts. Emanuel Hodrea added 15 points on 6-12 shooting, while Scottie Smith finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Bearcats shot 36 percent overall and committed 19 turnovers.
CSU hosts a tough North Georgia squad on Wednesday in the Lumpkin Center, while Lander returns to Greenwood to host Armstrong Atlantic State. Both games are set to tip-off at 7:30 PM.
