FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-12-05

Women's Basketball: AASU 76, Columbus State 73
Men's Basketball: Columbus State 83, AASU 77

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The leading scorers in the Peach Belt Conference flexed their scoring muscle as Armstrong Atlantic State’s Audosha Kelley registered 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Pirates past Columbus State, 76-73, while the Cougars’ Yandel Brown registered 28 points as Columbus State beat Armstrong Atlantic State, 83-77, for a Peach Belt Conference basketball doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.

A three-point shooting clinic by both teams in the men’s contest resulted in a tight game down the stretch as the Cougars (16-6, 9-3 PBC) and the Pirates (13-10, 5-7 PBC) were tied at 65-all with six minutes remaining in the game. AASU took a brief one-point lead, 68-67, on a Jamal Galloway three-pointer with 5:12 left, but Brown answered with a three of his own on the next possession to put Columbus back on top, 70-68, with 4:53 left. Quint Coger hit two free throws to stretch the margin to four, but another Galloway three-pointer cut it to one, 72-71, with 3:32 left.

That’s when offensive rebounding by the Cougars clinched the contest. After a missed Brown jump shot with no time left on the shot clock, Coger tipped in the rebound for a three-point lead. On CSU’s next trip down the court, Jack Tinkler rebounded a missed Brown three attempt right back to Brown, who canned another three-pointer for a six-point lead with 1:45 left. Brown nailed eight of 14 three-pointers on the evening en route to his 28 points, while Kendrick Jones added 20 points for the Cougars. Lorenzo Lawrence led four AASU players in double figures with 23 points – 18 in the first half – while Alex Carter and Bryan Taylor each chipped in 15 points.

The AASU women, meanwhile, won their fifth straight over Columbus State dating back to the 2003 PBC Championship Game with a three-point win over the Lady Cougars. AASU (17-9, 7-5 PBC) led by just one at halftime, 37-36, and stretched that lead to eight with a 7-0 run to begin the second half. The Lady Cougars (16-7, 9-3 PBC) battled back, using a 12-0 run to take a four-point lead, 48-44, with 12:48 left. CSU would stretch that lead to 12 points, 65-53, with 7:56 remaining, but the Lady Pirates used a 14-2 run over the next three minutes to tie the game at 67-all with 4:27 left.

Tabatha Taylor’s jump shot – two of her 22 points on the evening – gave CSU its final lead at 73-72 with 1:11 left, but Kelley answered with two free throws to put the Lady Pirates back up by one, 74-73, with 43 seconds remaining. A missed three-pointer by Lucia Heston resulted in a long rebound by the Lady Pirates’ Jasmine Herron with 16 seconds left, and a foul by Noelle Griffin on the rebound put Herron on the line, where she sunk two free throws for a three-point lead. Columbus State had two more cracks at a tying three-pointer, but Heston missed them both, the final one on an out-of-bounds play with 0.8 seconds left.

Kelley registered 22 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season to lead four AASU players in double figures. Herron chipped in 15 points and Alicia Durham also recorded a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Heston finished with 22 points to match Taylor for CSU team highs, while Taylor added 13 rebounds herself for a double-double.

AASU returns to action on Wednesday, February 16, as the Pirates travel to Milledgeville, Ga., for a PBC doubleheader with the GC&SU Bobcats beginning at 5:30 p.m.

-Pirates-