'Canes Lose Late Lead At Columbus State, Drop Fifth Straight

'Canes Lose Late Lead At Columbus State, Drop Fifth Straight

COLUMBUS - Back-and-forth the two teams went over the final seven minutes on Saturday afternoon in the Lumpkin Center, exchanging the lead seven times before Columbus State prevailed 72-69 over Georgia Southwestern in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

GSW has lost five in-a-row and drops to 7-11 overall, 3-8 in the PBC while Columbus State improves to 9-9 and 4-7 in conference play.

The Hurricanes trailed 29-26 at the halftime break but rallied behind 55.6 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes to eventually open a seven-point lead, 55-48, with 9:31 remaining. An ensuing 11-0 CSU run over the next 3:30 erased the margin and led to the exciting back-and-forth finish.

Daryl Davis sank a pair of free throws to give the Hurricanes their last lead of the day at 67-66 with 1:38 to go. A pair of turnovers and a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer accounted for three of the 'Canes final four possessions.

Alan Arnett led GSW with 18 points off the bench. Matt Shaw scored 16 and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.

CSU had four of its five starters finish in double-figures. Idell Bell led the Cougars with a game-high 25 points.

The Hurricanes return home after a four-game road trip to host Lander University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening in the Storm Dome.