Neither the Cougars or Lady Cougars had much luck at Columbia. The Cougars fell to the Chargers 81-54, while the Lady Chargers captured the women’s contest 79-51.
The Lady Cougars got back on track Saturday afternoon at Jackson with a 68-63 win over the Lady Generals. The Cougars dropped their second game of the weekend by a final count of 88-75.
On Saturday, Hannah Brown hit a long 3-pointer and Shanavian Woodland and Chelsea Jones hit a pair of tough buckets in the paint to help Cleveland State to a three-point halftime lead of 29-26.
The Lady Cougars turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and steadily built their lead. Brown hit another trey and Robyn Anthony did the same on her way to pouring in nine of her 15 points to help the visitors post the road win.
After Anthony’s 15 points, Jones finished with 13, Woodland added nine and Jessica Harper and Brown finished with eight points apiece. Shayna Garrett had 23 points in a losing effort for Jackson State.
GENERALS 88,
COUGARS 75
The homestanding Generals were red hot from the floor, nailing eight 3’s in the first half with Davell Lloyd hitting three of them. Barry Griffin kept the Cougars’ stay within striking distance with 12 first-half points and the visitors trailed by 11 at the break.
The Generals rained down four more long-distance shots in the second half. Johnny Williams added 12 points in the paint and the home team maintained its lead. Travis Jones had 15 of his 21 points in the second half, but it was not enough as the Cougars fell by 13. Griffin finished with 18 points while Keith Johnson added 11. Jacob Lloyd and Williams led the Generals with 17 points each.
LADY CHARGERS 79,
LADY COUGARS 51
The Lady Cougars held their own in the first half, knocking down six 3-pointers. Woodland hit a pair of treys and had 15 first-half points. The visitors trailed 35-31 at the break.
It was all Columbia State in the final 20 minutes. Keva Atkins and LaShanta Creary hit a pair of 3s each while turning up the defensive heat a couple of notches to hold Cleveland State to only 20 second-half points.
Woodland finished with 25 points to lead the Lady Cougars (7-11, 2-9). Atkins led the Lady Chargers with 16 and Creary and Kaylah Gohlston finished with 15 each.
CHARGERS 81,
COUGARS 54
Nick Ross hit a pair of 3s while Johnson and Jamarcus Comage added a long-range shot each to help the Cougars stay close in a low-scoring first half. The Cougars trailed by only four points at halftime, 27-23.
The Chargers took off and hid in the second half. Greg Magee and Kyle Carter scored 10 points each and the Cougars went long minutes without a bucket.
Ross finished with 23 points to lead the Cougars (9-10, 3-8). Lester Gude led the Chargers with 15 points and Magee finished with 14.
The Lady Cougars will travel to Northwest Georgia on Tuesday and both teams will be back at home Friday and Saturday hosting Volunteer State and Motlow State.
