Columbia, Mo. - The Columbia Cougar men's basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion to American Midwest Conference (AMC) 3-seed Lindenwood University-Belleville today by a score of 71-69 in the semi-final round of the AMC tournament. Columbia, the conference No. 2 seed in the tournament, falls to 26-6 on the year.

Columbia opened the game on a 13-2 run and led 18-10 midway through the half. They were able to stretch their lead to 13 points after a made 3-pointer by Jackson Dubinski with three minutes left in the half, but the Lynx would charge back with an 8-1 run to trail just 34-28 at the break.

To start the second half, Tanner Sutton hit a three giving the Cougars a 9 point advantage but Lindenwood-Belleville would not give in, dropping the margin to one point at 37-36 with 16:30 to play. The Cougars would continue to hold a small lead until the 10:00 mark when the Lynx sunk a deep three pointer to tie the game at 52. Five lead changes would occur the rest of the game, after a 3-point play by Chris Deanes with 30 seconds to play would give the Lynx the lead for good at 70-69. Two scoring chances would come for the Cougars down the stretch, but those shots fell short and the Lynx would hold on, winning 71-69.

The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field and were led by Malik Ray with a 15 points. Sutton and Zach Rockers also finished in double figures for Columbia with 12 points apiece while Rockers also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Craig Anderson finished with 19 points to lead Lindenwood-Belleville who shot 39 percent for the game.

The Cougars, who are ranked No. 12 in the latest poll, will learn their fate on Wednesday, March 11 when the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship pairings are announced.