Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the third ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they hosted Lyon (Ark.) College in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to pick up their 14^th straight win in today's contest as they defeated the Scots by a final score of 87-62.

With the win this afternoon, the Cougars improved their overall record to 20-1 on the season marking the seventh straight season that Columbia College has won 20 or more games. Since head coach Bob Burchard took over the team in 1988, he has led his team to 20 or more victories in all but four of his 29 seasons in Columbia. Burchard currently sits second among active NAIA head coaches with 739 career wins.

In the first half, both sides came out and exchanged points for the first few minutes of the game. The Cougars were finally able to break away from the Scots with 15 minutes remaining in the half after going on a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead midway through the period. Columbia continued to play at a high pace as the half progressed and the Lyons had a tough time keeping up as the Cougars were able to end the half on a 24-8 run and took at 49-29 lead into the halftime break. Columbia was led by Jackson Dubinski, Hank Mathews, and Nic Reynolds who all finished with eight points in the half.

The Cougars continued to push the tempo at the start of the second half and did a great job of moving the ball around on offense. Lyon did a better job of keeping up with Columbia in the second half but were never quite able to cut into the Cougars lead down the stretch. The Scots did their best to get back into the game but the damage had already been done and the Cougars were able to close out Lyon to stay unbeaten in conference play.

Columbia College had four players finish in double figures including Nic Reynolds who had a game high 18 points. Reynolds, who surpassed the 1,000 career point mark on Thursday, was honored before the game for his accomplishment and sits just 82 points shy of 15^th on Columbia's all-time scoring list. In addition to Reynolds, Jackson Dubinski and Hank Mathews both finished with 14 points and Nathan Biggs dropped in 10 points to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The Cougars also won for a bigger cause this afternoon. During today's games against the Scots all four coaches made an interesting fashion statement, wearing sneakers with their usual game attire to show their support of the American Cancer Society's work to save lives from cancer. During Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness weekend, a collaborative initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society, coaches across the country will be showing their support. Today the Cougars raised over $3,200 for the American Cancer Society. Coaches vs. Cancer has been helping the American Cancer Society save lives since 1993 by helping people stay well by educating and empowering people to avoid cancer or find it early; helping people get well with free programs and services when they're facing cancer; by finding cures and investing in research that yields groundbreaking discoveries into cancer's causes and cures; and by fighting back by helping pass laws that fight cancer and keep our communities healthy.

The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, January 21^st when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to take on Harris Stowe State (Mo.) University in AMC contest. The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.