Kansas City, Mo. – The No. 7 ranked Columbia Cougar men's basketball team opened up play in the 2016 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship with a 94-68 first round victory over No. 7 seed LSU Shreveport on Wednesday night at Municipal Auditorium. Columbia, the Naismith Bracket's No. 2 seed, improves to 29-5 overall. The Pilots end the year with a record of 18-14.

With the Cougars ahead 14-9, the squad used a 13-2 run including back-to-back threes by Nic Reynolds and Preston Whitfield to extend their lead to 15 at 27-11 at the midway point. Columbia continued to dominate the half, leading by as many as 23 and carried a 55-32 advantage into the halftime break. The Cougars shot 63 percent from the field while holding LSUS to a 34 percent clip while also outrebounding the Pilots 25-13. Reynolds connected on 4-of-5 attempts from three point range, posting 12 first half points to lead Columbia.

The Cougars stretched their lead out 26 during the second half as they cruised to the 94-68 lopsided victory. Columbia dominated all aspects of the game, shooting 60 percent and outrebounding LSUS 39-29. Nathan Biggs had 22 points to lead four Cougars in double figures, while Reynolds and Travis Vogt chipped in 17 and 13 points, respectively. Whitfield finished with 11 points while Malik Ray led all players with eight rebounds. Jackson Dubinski also dished out a game high seven assists.

Columbia will resume play in the national championship tournament Friday afternoon vs. William Penn, who defeated Montana Western in Wednesday night's earlier game. Tip-off for Friday afternoon's contest is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

Contact Kim Kliegel at 573-875-7433 if you are interested in riding the fan bus from Columbia to Kansas City.