Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the seventh ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they played host to the Missouri Valley College Vikings in a nonconference matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Vikings by a final score of 97-88 to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Tonight was a special night for head coach Bob Burchard as he celebrated his 1,000th career game as head coach of the Cougars. The winningest active NAIA Division I head coach has won 20 or more games in 25 of his 29 seasons at Columbia College and has a career record of 752-248.
In the first half of the game, both sides came out and exchanged baskets to start the contest. The score remained close for the first few minutes of the game but a 7-2 run from the Cougars gave them a 13-7 lead six minutes into the contest. Columbia College continued to play well as the half progressed and were able to extend their lead to 33-15 midway through the period. Despite being down, the Vikings battled back and were able to use a 26-9 run to end the half to cut the Cougars lead to 42-41 at the halftime break. Adam Mennemeyer had a team high 10 points in the period.
The second half started similar to the first half as both sides came out and exchanged baskets early. The score remained close throughout the first three minutes of the period but a 13-5 run from the Cougars propelled them to a 61-52 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Vikings bounced back and were able to cut the Cougars lead to five with four minutes remaining in the half but Columbia scored the next five points and extended their lead to 10 late in the contest. Missouri Valley made a push to get back into the game in the last couple of minutes but Columbia was able to hold them off to remain unbeaten on the season.
Nathan Biggs and Adam Mennemeyer led the way for the Cougars as both finished with a team high 18 points. In addition, Jackson Dubinski finished with 16 points, Nic Reynolds dropped in 14 points, and Preston Whitfield added 10 points to lead the Cougars offensively. Lucky Ogbomo also had a great night as he brought down a career high 15 rebounds in the contest.
The Cougars are back in action on Friday, November 24th when they take on Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College as a part of the 2017 Thanksgiving Classic Presented by Hampton Inn. Columbia College defeated the Wildcats earlier this month in a 104-71 victory and will look to have the same result on Friday. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. in the Southwell Athletic Complex.
