COLUMBUS, GA. - Columbus State University placed five players in double figures and held off a determined Francis Marion University squad for a 86-77 Peach Belt Conference victory, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 3) in men's basketball action.

The win is the third straight for the Cougars (13-8, 6-4), while FMU falls to 6-14 overall and 3-7 in PBC play.

FMU senior forward Raymond Dorsey led all scorers by pouring in a career-high 27 points on 13-of-16 shooting. Senior guard Dominic Bishop tallied 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 13 points in the final stanza, while center Kevin Ashford added 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Patriots shot a sizzling 63 percent in the second half, but hit just six of 20 three-point tries and committed 14 turnovers. FMU held a 37-33 edge in rebounding.

Francis Marion ran out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, getting a Dorsey dunk and a Nate Morley three-pointer right off the bat. CSU answered back with a traditional three-point play from Ron Robinson and a three-point bomb from Corris Portis to take a 6-5 lead.  From there, the two squads played evenly, with the visiting Patriots holding a slim lead for much of the next five minutes.

Trailing 19-18 with 11:14 to go in the period, CSU scored eight consecutive points as part of a 14-4 run that saw the Cougars take their biggest lead of the half at 32-23. A Travis Matthews three-pointer capped the run with 6:25 left in the half. CSU maintained at least a six-point lead for much of the rest of the half until a Sean Miller trey with 28 seconds left gave the Cougars a 45-36 lead going into the break.

CSU quickly pushed the lead to double digits in the opening moments of the second half and a Miller free-throw gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the day with 17:13 left to make it 53-40. The Patriots answered by going on a 12-3 run to cut the margin to 56-52. A Dorsey jumper with 13:04 left put the finishing touch on the run to pull FMU back into the game.

That, however, would be as close as the visitors could get. CSU turned a 59-54 lead into a 70-59 lead near the midway point of the half, using a trio of trifectas - one each from Robinson, Matthews, and Portis. The Patriots would make one final charge to get as close as four points again - this time closing the gap on a Bishop three-pointer. CSU was able to take advantage of Patriot turnovers on their next two possessions to extend the lead to eight points and held on for the 86-77 win.

Robinson led CSU for the second straight game, scoring 23 points, including a stellar 10-of-11 day at the free throw line. Miller came off the bench to record his third straight solid game, scoring 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Portis added 14 points, while Matthews chipped in 13 and D.J. Chandler 10.  The Cougars shot 40 percent on the day and hit a total of 13 three-point field goals in the game.

The Patriots remain on the road on Wednesday with a short trip to UNC Pembroke for a 7:30 p.m. game.