RIDGELAND — Road wins in division were hard to come by for Columbus last season, but the Falcons have already doubled last season’s total.
Behind a balanced offensive attack, second-ranked Columbus held on to beat fifth-ranked Ridgeland, 70-62, in a key Region 2-6A top five showdown on Monday night.
The Falcons won one division game last season on the road against Callaway.
“We struggled to get wins on the road last year. I think we won one game through district and now we’ve got two already, so we’re out to a solid start in district play and need to keep building,” said Columbus coach Phil Morris. “I’m glad we got to see some good adversity, fought through some adversity at the end, a lot of guys in foul trouble down the stretch, and the guys found a way to pull through.”
The first half was back-and-forth with only three different lead changes. Columbus held a slim 16-13 lead at the end of the third quarter, while Ridgeland began the second quarter on a 12-6 run to take a 25-22 lead and eventually hold a 33-29 halftime lead.
Midway through the third quarter with the game tied at 40, Maurius Moody hit a three-pointer with 3:32 left to give Columbus a 43-40 lead and from that point the Falcons outscored the Titans 9-7 to take a 52-47 lead at the end of the frame.
The Falcons stretched their lead to 59-50 to begin the fourth quarter, but from that point Ridgeland went on a 12-3 run, tying the game, 62-62, with 1:16 left on a lay-up by Josiah Davidson.
Columbus finished the game on a 7-0 run highlighted by promising sophomore D.J. Verdell’s three-pointer with 56 seconds left and three-point play with 27 seconds left to give the Falcons a 68-62 lead.
“D.J. made some big plays down the stretch with the big three, the and-one play, and the free throw at the end were huge,” Morris said. “We got different guys that score the ball, and the guys stepped up, made baskets at the end, and came through. This was a great team win.”
Jace O’Neal had 20 points to lead Columbus, while Verdell added 15 points and Mosely had 14 points for the Falcons (13-3, 2-0 Region 2-6A).
“We knew we were going to have to fight through some adversity and just needed to push through and play our game and not worry about anything else. We needed this win on the road in district,” O’Neal said. “We’ve had games where there’s stretches of where we don’t score, and David was clutch and stepped up and got a bucket to give us some momentum. What I love about this team is we play the next play and play through the fouls and not worrying about anything and getting better.”
Phil Nelson had a game-high 29 points to lead Ridgeland (15-3, 1-1).
“Had the game tied and on defense we gambled on going for the steal and the kid made a big three and a big shot,” said Ridgeland coach Terron McIntyre. “This is just Round 1 of many rounds because it’s going to come down to the end of district play with us and them.”
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