COLUMBUS, Ga. | JaCori Payne scored seven of his 30 points in overtime as Columbus State University held off Young Harris College 90-87 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon at the Lumpkin Center.
The Cougars improved to 16-5 overall and remained in first place in the PBC West Division with a 9-5 lead. The Mountain Lions suffered their second three-game losing streak this season as they fell to 13-9 overall and fell to fourth place in the West Division at 7-6. Young Harris returns to the YHC Basketball Arena Monday (Feb. 6) for a 7:30 p.m. PBC contest against the University of Montevallo.
Young Harris rallied from 13 points down to force the extra period at 81 when
Bjorn Walker nailed a three-pointer with one second left. Columbus State took a 78-65 lead with 3:05 to go on two Payne free throws. The Mountain Lions responded with 10 unanswered points to pull within three points (78-75) when Walker hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds left. After Payne hit a free throw,
Ben Waterhouse made a long-distance shot to close the margin to one (79-78( with nine seconds to go. Payne then sank two free throws to put the Cougars back up three with eight seconds remaining before Walker sent the game into overtime.
Two free throws from
C.J. Wilson with 3:01 to go in overtime gave YHC an 83-81 lead, but Payne connected on his fifth three-pointer of the game eight seconds later to give the Cougars the lead for good at 84-83. CSU led by as many as five points (90-85) in the OT on a Payne layup with 54 second left. Young Harris got a jumper by
Demari Edwards with 42 seconds to go and had a chance to send the game into a second overtime, but Walker's three-point shot rimmed out in the final seconds.
Waterhouse, who hit 6-of-7 three-point attempts, led the Mountain Lions with 23 points and seven rebounds, while Wilson added 15 points and seven assists. Walker finished with a double double as he scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Edwards also finished in double figured with 12 points.
Payne added seven rebounds and six assists for the Cougars, while Arben Camaj (19) and Vic Ellis (14) finished in double figures.
