Belleville, Ill. – Tonight the seventh ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they took on Lindenwood University-Belleville (Ill.) in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to improve to 6-2 all-time against the Lynx after defeating Lindenwood-Belleville by a final score of 92-81. With the win tonight, Columbia College improves to 11-1 on the season and 6-0 in conference play.

The Cougars came out in the first half and struggled to start the game as they found themselves down 20-11 with 14 minutes remaining in the half. Despite getting off to a slow start, Columbia began to settle in as the game progressed and went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 22. Both sides exchanged points over the next few possessions but with a little over four minutes remaining in the half Travis Vogt knocked down a big three pointer that jumpstarted a 14-2 run for the Cougars to end the half. Columbia College was led by Jackson Dubinksi who finished with eight points as the Cougars took a 42-31 lead into the break.

Columbia College picked up right where they left off in the first half and scored five quick points to start the second. The Lynx were able to cut the Cougars lead down to nine with 17 minutes remaining in the game but Columbia scored the next seven points and stretched their lead back to 16. Lindenwood-Belleville did their best to get back into the game but every time the Lynx would get anything going the Cougars would answer back with a big shot on the other end. However, with just under five minute left in the contest, Lindenwood-Belleville came to life and scored five straight points to cut the Cougars lead down to four. That was as close as they would get in the second half as the Cougars were able to convert their free throws down the stretch and extended their winning streak to five straight games.

Columbia College had several players in double figures including Jackson Dubinski who led the team with 17 points. In addition to Dubinksi, Nathan Biggs and Nic Reynolds finished with 13 points, Travis Vogt had 12 points, Preston Whitfield dropped in 10 points, and Malik Ray finished with 16 points to go along with a team high 10 rebounds to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, December 17^th when they travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, to take on Philander Smith (Ark.) College in a non-conference matchup. The Panthers are currently 5-4 on the season and have lost their last three contests. The game is set to tip-off at 2 p.m.