Columbia, Mo. - The 5^th-ranked Columbia men's basketball team defeated American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent Lindenwood University-Belleville by a score of 89-76 on Thursday evening at the Arena of Southwell Complex to pick up their 12^th straight win. With the victory, the Cougars improve to 12-0 overall on the year and 6-0 in AMC play while the Lynx fall to 4-8 on the season and 1-4 in league play.

The scoring got off to a slow start as the Cougars led 14-6 midway through the first half. A three pointer by Jackson Dubinski at the 9:05 minute mark allowed the Cougars to push their lead to double digits, making the score 19-8. Columbia utilized an 11-0 run, capped off by a Jesse Brown three pointer to extend their lead to 17 at 32-15 with 5:00 remaining. The Cougars continued to dominate with the clock winding down, pushing their lead to as many as 20 and carried a 42-25 advantage into the halftime break. Columbia shot 46 percent while limiting the Lynx to just 33 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded the visitors 24-15 in the half.

LU-B hung around and eventually cut the deficit to five at 51-46 with the help of a 10-0 run. After trading points, Nic Reynolds drained a three, sparking a 7-0 run by the Cougars to stretch their advantage back out to 12 at 62-50. The Lynx wouldn't be able to make a comeback from there, as Columbia would run away with the 89-76 victory.

Columbia and LU-B both finished the night shooting 49 percent from the field. The Cougars were led by Dubinski with 14 points. Reynolds finished with 13 points and a team high seven rebounds while Nathan Biggs and Chantel Stanciel also finished in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Stanciel dished out a game high five assists.

The Cougars return to action on Saturday, December 19^th when they travel to Little Rock, Ark. to take on Philander Smith College. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.