Hannibal, Mo. - The Columbia College men's basketball team, ranked No. 7 in the NAIA, earned a road victory over Hannibal-LaGrange tonight by a score of 55-45 in the American Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The Cougars remain undefeated on the year at 5-0 and 1-0 in AMC play with the win, while the Trojans drop to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in league play.

With the score close at 11-10 after six minutes of play, Columbia began a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. The Trojans would answer with a 6-2 run of their own during the next eight and a half minutes and the Cougars went into the halftime break with a 24-16 lead after shooting just 35 percent from the field in the first period.

Columbia would maintain the advantage over the Trojans throughout the entire second half leading by as much as 23 points. Hannibal-LaGrange was able to cut the deficit after a 15-2 run in the final seven minutes of play, but the Cougars would walk away with the 55-45 victory.

Columbia hit 23 of 54 attempts (43 percent) from the field on the night, led by a team-high 11 points from Tanner Sutton. Jeremy Nolen chipped in nine points and pulled down a match-high six rebounds while Chantel Stanciel dished out a match-high four assists.

The Cougars return to action on Saturday, November 22^nd when they host AMC opponent Williams Baptist College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Arena of Southwell Complex.