Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the seventh ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they played host to the Lindenwood University-Belleville (Ill.) Lynx in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to stay unbeaten on the season as they defeated the Lynx by a final score of 89-87 to improve to 9-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
In the first half of the game, both sides came out and exchanged baskets early. The score remained close throughout most of the first half but the Cougars held a 22-21 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the period. Despite being down, Lindenwood-Belleville was able to score the next eight points of the contest to take a 29-22 lead and forcing Columbia to call a timeout. The Cougars came out of the timeout and quickly hit a three point shot to cut the lead to four but another run from the Lynx allowed them to push their lead to nine with five minutes remaining in the half. Columbia College battled back down the final stretch of the half and were able to cut Lindenwood-Belleville's lead to 48-41 at the halftime break. Nathan Biggs led the way for the Cougars as he finished with a team high 14 points in the period.
Columbia College came out in the second half and scored the first five points of the period to quickly cut the Lynx lead to two. They continued to play well as half progressed and were able to retake the lead with 17 minutes remaining in the contest. The score remained close for the next few minutes of the game but a 6-0 run from Columbia midway through the half propelled them to a 61-55 lead. The Lynx responded with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the score of 61 but another run from the Cougars gave them a 69-63 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. Lindenwood-Belleville battled back down the final stretch of the game and were able to tie it 87 with 25 seconds remaining but two free-throws from senior Jackson Dubinski with seven second left in the contest solidified the Cougars ninth victory of the season.
Nathan Biggs led the way for Columbia tonight as the senior matched his season high with 19 points. To go along with Biggs, Jackson Dubinksi and Nic Reynolds both dropped in 16 points while Lucky Ogbomo and Adam Mennemeyer both contributed 10 points. Ogbomo also finished with a game high 11 rebounds.
The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, December 2nd when they travel to Fulton, Missouri, to take on William Woods (Mo.) University. The game is set to tip off at 3:00 p.m.
