Columbia, Mo. – The 7^th-ranked Cougar men's basketball team posted a 56-48 victory over Avila University tonight in their first of two games in the 2014 Hampton Inn Classic. Columbia improves to 8-0 on the year with the win.

The two teams went back and forth to start the first half as the squads were tied at 7 after nine minutes of play. The Eagles would use a 6-0 run to gain their largest lead at 13-7, but the Cougars battled back to tie the score at 15 with five minutes to play. However, Avila would hold the Cougars scoreless and use a 7-0 run over the next minute to grab the 22-15 lead. Columbia would cut the deficit to four, but the Eagles would take the 25-21 advantage into the halftime break. The Cougars were outrebounded 20-12 in the opening period and shot 27 percent from the field while the Eagles connected on 10 of 25 attempts (40 percent).

Columbia kept things close throughout the second half, and pulled within one at 35-34 with 10:54 to play. The Cougars gained the lead on a three-pointer by Jackson Dubinski at the 10:26 mark, and would take control from there. Columbia extended their lead out to eleven with less than two minutes to play. The Eagles would stick around and cut the deficit to eight, but the Cougar defense would tighten up from there and close out their eighth straight victory.

The Cougars shot 44 percent in the final period to finish at 37 percent on the night, led by Travis Vogt with a career-high 13 points. Jobe Dillard added ten points while Malik Ray pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Avila finished with a 35-31 edge on the boards and shot 38 percent from the floor on the night.

Prior to game time, Columbia senior guard Tanner Sutton was recognized after winning his 100^th career game against Williams Baptist University on Saturday night.

Columbia will wrap up the Hampton Inn Classic tomorrow afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. matchup against Culver-Stockton College. The contest will follow the 1:00 p.m. game between Avila University and Missouri Baptist. Both games will be played at the Arena of Southwell Complex.