Kansas City, Mo. – This afternoon the sixth ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to take on Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College in the first round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The Cougars, who earned a two seed in the tournament after winning the regular season AMC title, were able to defeat the Warriors by a final score of 71-59 and will advance to the second round of the National Championships.

The Cougars got off to a slow start in the first half as they went 4-9 from the field to start the game and allowed the Warriors to jump out to an early 13-9 lead in the contest. Columbia College continued to struggle shooting the ball as the half progressed but were able to use an 11-2 run midway through the period to take their first lead of the ball game. Despite the Cougars having the momentum late in the half, the Warriors were able to close out the period on a 15-5 run and took a 33-25 lead into the halftime break. Columbia College was led by Nic Reynolds who finished with a team high nine points in the half.

In the second half of the game, Lewis-Clark State opened the period on a 6-0 run and were able to extend their lead to 14 with 18 minutes remaining in the contest. However, the Cougars battled back and were able to answer with a 15-2 run of their own thanks to a great effort on the defensive end. They forced the Warriors to turn the ball over several times as they fought their way back into the game.

The Cougars continued to push the tempo over the next few minutes of the game and were finally able to regain the lead with 6:30 left in the contest when Nic Reynolds knocked down back-to-back free throws to give Columbia their first lead since the first half. Lewis-Clark did their best to get back into the game but the Cougars had all the momentum down the final stretch and were able to close out the Warriors to improve to 27-5 on the season.

The Cougars were led by Nic Reynolds who finished with a game high 26 points in the contest. In addition to Reynolds, Jesse Brown finished with 12 points and Nathan Biggs finished with a team high eight rebounds to round out the top performers for Columbia.

With the win, the Cougars will advance to take on the 10^th ranked and third seeded University of Pikesville (Ky.) Bears in the second round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The Bears, who defeated Grand View (Iowa) in the first round, come into this game with a 27-7 record on the season and 9-5 mark in the Mid-South Conference. The game is set to tip-off at 5:45 p.m.

Columbia College will have a free fan bus leaving from the Southwell Athletic Complex at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 17^th and will return following the conclusion of the game. If you are interested in riding the bus then please email Kim Kliegel at kakliegel1@ccis.edu.

If you are unable to make it to Kansas City, the NAIA Network – the association's official video streaming home – will broadcast all 30 games live leading up to the championship final on ESPN3. The video platform, by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament package is available at $29.95. For more information and the pre-register, click here.