Box Score Kansas City, Mo. - The 4^th-ranked Cougar men's basketball team saw their season come to an end with an 80-75 loss to No. 19 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University in the second round of the 2014 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship on Friday night at Municipal Auditorium. Columbia finishes the year with a record of 32-3, their second consecutive 30-win season. The Pioneers improve to 25-10 with the win.

Both teams struggled offensively early on, but it was MidAmerica Nazarene reeling off an 8-0 run midway through the first half for a 21-14 lead at the 8:39 mark. The Pioneers maintained the lead for the majority of the period before the Cougars came storming back with the help of a trio of three-pointers in the final minute by Jeremy Nolen and Derrick Dilworth. With time winding down in the frame, Nolen would connect on a last-second three from the right wing to give Columbia a 37-32 advantage at the halftime break. The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field in the half, while holding MNU to a 26 percent clip. The Pioneers did much of their damage from the free throw line, where they went 14 of 16. Luke Thomas, the NAIA's leading rebounder, led all players with 13 points and 10 rebounds at the break, while Devin Griffin also reached double figures with 11 points for Columbia.

MidAmerica Nazarene kept things close to begin the second half and regained the lead at 49-48 on a basket by Justin Randall with 12:33 to play. The two squads battled back and forth over the next four minutes, with the Cougars tying the score at 56 on a three-point play by Griffin at the 8:44 mark. With the score tied at 65, the Pioneers used a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 74-66 with 2:18 remaining. MNU was able to convert their free throws and hold Columbia at bay before back-to-back three-pointers by Dilworth pulled the Cougars within two at 77-75 with 22 seconds left. However, Columbia could get no closer from there as the Pioneers put the game away at the free throw line for the upset victory.

The Cougars hit just 11 of 34 attempts from the floor in the final period to finish at 36 percent on the night. Griffin led four Columbia players in double figures with 26 points, followed by Dilworth and Gerardo Isla with 14 and 12 respectively. Patric Massey had a team-high 11 rebounds and Nolen added nine.

MidAmerica Nazarene was limited to 35 percent from the field for the game, but hit 36 of 44 attempts (82 percent) from the charity stripe. Thomas led five Pioneers in double figures with a monster double-double of 18 points and 18 rebounds.

MidAmerica Nazarene will advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round, where they will take on the winner of St. Catharine (Ky.) College and Hope International (Calif.) University.