Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar men's basketball team survived a stiff test from American Midwest Conference (AMC) foe Williams Baptist College on Thursday night, pulling away down the stretch for a 86-75 home victory. Columbia, the NAIA's sixth-ranked squad in the latest Top 25 Poll, improves to 23-2 overall and 14-1 in conference play with the win.

The two teams went back and forth to start the first half as the Cougars led 15-12 after seven minutes of play. Derrick Dilworth, making his first appearance since suffering an injury vs. Harris-Stowe on February 1^st, knocked down a three-pointer to put Columbia up 18-12 at the 12:46 mark. The Cougars would stretch their lead out to eight midway through the frame, but the Eagles battled back to tie the score at 26 with 6:43 to play. Patric Massey and Devin Griffin combined to score 13 of Columbia's final 17 points over the remainder of the period as Columbia took a 43-36 advantage into the halftime break after shooting 49 percent from the field.

Williams Baptist kept things close to begin the second half and pulled within one at 49-48 with 13:41 to play. The Cougars extended their lead back out to ten on a three-pointer by Wendell Crowder at the 8:58 mark, but the Eagles continued to hang around and cut the Columbia advantage down to seven with under four minutes remaining. The Cougar defense would tighten up from there and close out their seventh straight victory dating back to January 23^rd.

Columbia finished the game 32 of 67 from the floor and 6 of 15 from three-point range. Leading scorer Devin Griffin led four Cougars in double figures with 21 points and five assists, marking his sixth consecutive 20-point game. Patric Massey added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Dilworth and Gerardo Isla chipped in 14 and 12 points off the bench respectively.

Prior to game time, Columbia junior guard Tanner Sutton was recognized by local Allstate agent Lynn Wobig for his selection to the 2014 Allstate NABC & WBCA Good Works Team this past Tuesday.

The Cougars will look for their eight consecutive win on Saturday, February 15^th when they host conference opponent Hannibal-LaGrange University. Columbia picked up a 67-51 win at Hannibal in the two club's first meeting of the year back on January 11^th. Saturday's game is set for a 4:00 pm start at the Arena of Southwell Complex.