In the two teams first meeting this year, CSU was unable to get anything going early and fell into a hole they could not climb out of. That would not be the case this evening. The Cougars scored the first bucket of the game and after the score was tied 4-4, they went on a 10-0 run to take a 14-4 lead with 13:35 to go in the first half. Paul Darkwa scored six of the points during the spurt which was capped off by a Jarmarquis Steverson jumper.
After a layup by the Chargers, CSU again had a run, this time a 7-0 run. Steverson hit a three-pointer followed by a Darius Mcknight jumper down low and an Andrew Houts layup. The run was highlighted by tremendous team defense by the Cougars in which they forced three UAH turnovers. That run would put the Cougars up by 15, their largest lead of the night 21-6 with 10:23 remaining.
UAH would slowly cut into the lead over the next several minutes, shrinking the CSU lead to 25-15 on a Josh Magette steal and layup with 6:48 to play in the half. A Darius McKnight layup pushed the lead back to 12 at the 6:08 mark, until a Steve Peterson foul on a Jaime Smith three-point attempt sent Smith to line for three free throws. Smith would connect on all three cutting the CSU lead to 27-20 with just over five minutes to play in the half.
Columbus State would push the lead back to six on two Jarmarquis Steverson free throws with just under a minute to play before halftime. Baldwin would connect again from deep with thirty seven seconds remaining and the two teams would head to break with CSU up 31-28.
Coming out the break CSU extended the lead back up to five twice in the early portion of the second half, the second time off a Houts three-pointer with just under 18 minutes to go in the game. The Chargers would go on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game since they were ahead 4-2 at the 18:02 mark in the first half. The game would go back and forth for the remainder of the final 20 minutes of play before UAH used another run, this one an 8-0, to take what seemed to be a commanding nine point lead with 5:38 left in the contest.
The resilient Cougars roared back to regain the lead behind a 10-0 run in a two minute and fifty second span. Steverson hit back-to-back buckets followed by two straight three-pointers by Houts, giving CSU a 55-54 lead. That would be the last lead they would have as UAH scored the final four points of the game. Columbus State had the ball with a chance to tie the game up, but were unable to get a shot off.
CSU had four players score in double-figures paced by Mcknight and Steverson’s 12 points. Houts chipped in with 11 points and Darkwa added 10. Mcknight also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds closely followed by Darkwa who had seven. Steverson dished out a game-high six assists as well. As a team, they shot 42.3% from the floor while knocking down three three-pointers. Defensively the Cougars forced 14 turnovers and held the Chargers to 23 points below their season average.
Alabama-Huntsville was led by Jaime Smith who registered 16 points including a 4-for-6 performance from three-point range. Xavier Baldwin added 13 points while also connecting twice from deep. The Chargers shot 51.2 percent from the floor for the game, including 42.1 percent from beyond the arc.
A “Teddy Bear Toss” was held at halftime of the game where fans tossed new teddy bears onto the court trying to get closest to the three envelopes strategically placed on the court. The three closest tosses were given gift cards and all of the teddy bears will be donated to “Toys for Tots”.
The Cougars will have another tough test this weekend when they take on #8 USC Aiken in their Peach Belt Conference opener. The Pacers will enter the contest with a 5-1 record after dropping their first game of the year last Saturday against PBC foe Flagler College. It will be part of a basketball double-header as the Lady Cougars will also open up conference play against USC Aiken at 1:30 p.m. The men’s game will tip-off at 4:00 p.m.
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