When the Cougars and the Chargers get together you can throw out the records because anything can happen. And it did on Saturday afternoon inside L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium as both games between Cleveland State and Columbia State went down to the final buzzer before a winner could be determined.

 

CHARGERS 58  COUGARS 57

 

The men's contest was close from start to finish. The lead changed hands nine time in the first half and 13 times in the game as the Cougars were determined to upset the first place Chargers.

 

Marcus Averhart nailed a pair of shots from downtown and Nicholas Beaird-Kennard added two more off the Cougar bench. Charles Freeman and Jo'Vontay Ross also chipped in from long range to help the home team stay right with the much larger Chargers. 

 

Eight straight points midway through the first half from the tall trees in the paint, Jamari Bostic, T'arreq Williams and Malique Oates gave the Chargers a lead that they would keep until halftime. Tony Sapp converted a 3-point play and hit a pair of free tosses in the final minutes as the Cougars would trail by only five points at the break, 36-31.

 

A turnaround jumper in the paint by Kobe Pride and back to back three-pointers from Averhart and Melvin Tobar, Jr. put the Cougars back on top at the 15 minute mark.

 

The lead didn't last long though as the Chargers quickly responded with eight straight of their own as Christopher McKnight and Jaylen Wetzel hit a 3-ball each and the tallest of the Charger trees, Oates converted a smooth turnaround jumper to put the visitors back on top.

 

Trailing by nine points, 56-47 with just under three minutes to play, the Cougars made one last run. Two steals and layups by Khris Green got things started another turnaround shot off the glass from Pride and two more downtown shots by Tobar once again put the Cougars on top, 57-56 with 11 ticks left on the clock.

 

The Chargers made one last mad dash down the court and Wetzel was fouled going to the hoop with 4.9 seconds to play. The Charger guard calmly hit his only two free tosses of the game to put Columbia State back on top, 58-57. The Cougars weren't able to get a shot off at the buzzer and the Chargers took the thriller by a single point.

 

Tobar led the Cougars with 12 points, Averhart had nine and Beaird-Kinnard finished with eight. Xavier Griffith paced the Chargers with 14 points, Oates added 12 points and Wetzel had 10.

 

Cleveland State will host their final two home games of the season on Monday as Jackson State comes to town and Chattanooga State will invade, "The Q," on Wednesday starting at 5:30 both nights. Both teams will wrap up the regular season on the road at Dyersburg State on Saturday the 19th and then return a week later to Dyersburg for the NJCAA/TCCAA Region VII Tournament, February 25 thru March 1.