COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team dropped its fourth consecutive game 72-69 at No. 20 Columbus State (CSU) in a hard fought road battle Saturday afternoon.

The Nighthawks fell to 13-10 (5-6 Peach Belt) to the first-place Cougars who improved to 18-3 (9-2 Peach Belt) on Saturday.

UNG received key contributions from leading scorer Colin Turner who had a team-high 15 points in the loss. The junior center also snagged nine rebounds while going 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Junior guard Cayden Charles recorded his sixth double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out three assists. Charles has recorded a double-double in all five of his double-digit rebounding performances this season. 

Senior guard Sutton Smith had one of his best games of the season as he made his first start of the year for the Nighthawks. The Alpharetta, Ga. native posted 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting which included a 3-for-3 mark from beyond the arc.

UNG also saw a bright spot in freshman guard Ja'mari Arnold who had a career-high 12 points with three assists off the bench against the Cougars.

Saturday's contest was an up-and-down affair for the Nighthawks. It started well as UNG opened the game with a 21-10 lead at the 11:55 mark of the first half.

Things quickly changed when CSU went on a prolonged 19-2 run over the course of nearly six minutes to pull ahead 29-23 with 6:15 to play in the half.

The Nighthawks fought back to retake the lead as Arnold connected on a three-pointer before halftime to possess a 36-35 advantage for his team.

The second half was a heavyweight fight and each side connected on a number of haymakers. Over the 20-minute stretch of play, the lead changed hands nine times and the game was tied four times.

With 6:11 to play, Smith drilled a triple to cut a four-point deficit to just one at 60-59 in favor of CSU.  The Cougars answered with a counter punch of their own as Roman Son hit a three to put the team back up by four.

CSU claimed its largest lead of the second half when Wisdom Uboh made a three-pointer to go up 70-65 with 2:13 remaining.

Arnold landed a hefty blow to keep UNG within reach on the next possession as he drilled a triple of his own to make it 70-68. The Nighthawk defense came up with two critical stops on the following possession, giving UNG a chance to tie or take the lead as it trailed by two points with 34 seconds to play.

Charles had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line after drawing a foul. He made the first free throw but missed the second attempt. However, the ball bobbed atop a collection of fingertips in the key and was eventually tipped out to the perimeter by Charles for an offensive rebound.

Head coach Dan Evans called a timeout with 28 seconds left as he took advantage of the opportunity to concoct a potentially game-winning play.

On the following possession, junior guard AJ White drove in the lane as he tried to manufacture a scoring opportunity for the Nighthawks. White instead turned the ball over as Son poked it away in help defense. 

UNG was forced to intentionally foul Uboh. He would go to the line for a one-and-one opportunity with a 70-69 lead. Uboh missed the first free throw, giving the Nighthawks a second chance to win the game. However, CSU pressured the UNG offense intensely at the other end of the floor, forcing an errant shot from Charles that bounced out of bounds with only one second on the clock. 

The Cougars would knock down two free throws with 0.4 seconds left to secure the win.

Now the Nighthawks will regroup for another tough road test as they head to Lander on Wednesday, Feb. 12 for their next game. Tip off from Greenwood, S.C. is set for 7:30 p.m.