Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the sixth ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they hosted Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University in an AMC contest. The Cougars were able to defeat the Hornets by a final score of 85-63 and improved to 9-1 on the season while extending their winning streak to three straight games.

The Cougars got off to a quick start in the game and were able to score on their first possession when they worked the ball around before finding Nathan Biggs in the lane who was able to convert on his jump shot while fading away from the basket. They played strong defense against the Hornets and forced them to turn the ball over three times in the first four minutes of the game. Despite knocking down a Columbia College record 21 three pointers in their last game against St. Louis College of Pharmacy, the Cougars stayed away from the three point shot to start the game only attempting one in the first seven minutes of the contest. Instead the Cougars worked the ball inside and were able to jump out to a 14-3 lead to start the half.

Harris-Stowe started to settle in as the half progressed but had a tough time finding the basket as they were unable to convert on their open looks. The Cougars took advantage of the Hornets tough shooting night and pushed the tempo after bringing down the rebounds. This helped the Cougars go on 11-3 run in the middle of the half and extend their lead to 20 with seven minutes remaining in the period. The Cougars continued to dominate the rest of the half and took a 44-29 lead into the halftime break. Columbia College was led by Nathan Biggs and Preston Whitfield who each had nine points in the half.

The Cougars picked up right where they left off in the first half and started the second on a 14-0 run to extend their lead to 29 with 18 minutes remaining in the game. The Hornets worked hard to get back into the game but Columbia's defense shut them down and did not allow them to score a field goal for the first six minutes of the half. They continued to play great basketball down the stretch and were able to hold off the Hornets to improve to 4-0 in conference play.

Columbia College had several players finish in double figures including Malik Ray who led the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Additionally, Nathan Biggs finished with 13 points, Jackson Dubinski and Preston Whitfield each had 12 points, and Jesse Brown dropped in 10 points to round out the top scorers for the Cougars.

Columbia College is back in action on Saturday, December 10^th when they take on Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. The game is set to tip off at 3 p.m. in the Southwell Complex.