Columbia, Mo. – For the second time in 12 days the seventh ranked Columbia College Cougars have defeated Philander Smith (Ark.) College. Today in a noontime showdown the Cougars took down the Panthers by a score of 96-71. This is the sixth straight win for the Cougars as they move to 13-1 on the season.

The Panthers connected on their first three possessions of the game, leaving the Cougars trailing 6-0 early on, but that would be the largest lead of the contest for the visitors as Columbia came back and overtook the lead eight minutes into the game. An 18-0 run for the Cougars followed as they never looked back and lead for the remainder of the contest, stretching out their advantage to as many as 28 in the first frame while shooting 49 percent from the field.

The Panthers outscored the Cougars in the second half by two but couldn't come close to touching the double digit deficit they put themselves in. Columbia finished the contest shooting 56 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc as they drained 12 of their 27 attempts. Columbia's bench outscored Philander Smith's by 25 which proved to be the difference maker as Preston Whitfield had a game high 16 points off the bench.

Following Whitfield in scoring for Columbia was Hank Matthews who dropped in 13 points. Nic Reynolds and Lucky Ogbomo each had 12 points and Malik Ray added 10 points. JaCarre Crockett led the Panthers with 15 points.   

The Cougars return to American Midwest Conference action this weekend when they host Missouri Baptist University. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. on Bob Burchard Court in Southwell Complex.