Box Score Fayette, Mo. - The Cougar men's basketball team won their fourth straight game to open the 2014-15 season tonight, defeating non-conference opponent Central Methodist University by a score of 73-56. Columbia, ranked 7^th in the Preseason NAIA Top 25 Poll, improves to 4-0 on the year with the win, their second victory over the Eagles this season.

The first half played out as a back-and-forth battle between the two squads and featured eight lead changes. The Eagles took the lead 22-21 midway through the first period, but Columbia would go on a 12-2 run to take the 33-24 advantage into the locker room. The Cougars shot 50 percent from the field led by Travis Vogt, Tanner Sutton, and Nic Reynolds with 6 points apiece. The Cougars stretched their lead out to 23 in the second half and held the Eagles to 31 percent shooting for the game to earn the road victory.

Columbia hit 26 of 54 attempts (48 percent) from the field on the night, led by a team-high 13 points from Jeremy Nolen to go along with 12 points from Reynolds. Chantel Stanciel added a career high 10 rebounds as the Cougars finished with a 42-39 advantage on the boards. CMU's Eric McDaniel led all scorers with 16 points.

The Cougars will look for their fifth consecutive win on Thursday, November 20^th when they travel to Hannibal, Mo. to take on conference opponent Hannibal-LaGrange University. Thursday's game is set for a 7:30 pm start.