FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12-3-05

Men's College Basketball: No. 19 Columbus State 77, AASU 65

Release Courtesy of Columbus State Sports Information

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Columbus State made nine of 16 three-point attempts in the second half here Saturday to pull away from Peach Belt Conference foe Armstrong Atlantic State and post a 77-65 win. The Cougars, now 6-2 on the season, even their PBC mark to 1-1, while AASU moves to 4-2, 1-1.

The squads played a relatively even first half as neither was able to shoot above 35 percent. AASU led for the first six minutes before CSU tied the score on a Ron Robinson three-pointer with 13:17 left. That became part of a 15-3 run for the Cougars which saw them take a 24-15 lead with 6:15 left on a Justin Wilson trey.

The Pirates cut the margin to three with 3:23 remaining on a Darly Massamba three-pointer, but CSU scored four straight points to push the margin back to seven. The Pirates then made another run, scoring the final five points of the half, the last three coming on Kevin Parker's bomb from some 30 feet to beat the buzzer. That cut the Cougars' halftime lead to just two points at 34-32.

AASU got a Patrick Sanou dunk just 38 seconds into action in the second half to tie the score at 34, but that would prove to be its last real threat of the game. Beginning with a Corris Portis jumper at the 19:06 mark, CSU rattled off a 24-6 run which included six three pointers - three of those by Portis and two more by Justin Wilson - to
take a 58-40 lead. The Cougars would lead by as many as 21 points before settling for the 12-point win.

Portis and Wilson combined to go 6-9 from three-point range in the second half for CSU. Wilson led all scorers with 20 points to go with seven rebounds. The junior forward also picked up seven rebounds along the way. Portis added 13 points - 11 in the second half - and added four rebounds and two steals. Ransom Antoine chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds, as well. CSU held a 43-33 advantage on the boards over the bigger Pirates and finished the game with a respectable 41 percent
shooting performance.

AASU got 12 points each from Tory Harris, Bryan Taylor, and David Lopez. Taylor and Alex Carter had six rebounds each to lead the Pirates.

Columbus State next plays a pair of tough road games on December 10- 11, traveling to North Carolina Central on Saturday and then to reigning Division II national champion Virginia Union on Sunday. AASU plays its annual Alumni Game on December 12 and then will host the 2005 Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic on December 16-17.

-Pirates-