Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the sixth ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they played host to the Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University Hornets in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Hornets by a final score of 74-71 to improve to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in the AMC.
The Hornets came out in the first half and scored the first four points of the game before the Cougars were able to get on the board. The Cougars quickly tied the score at seven but Harris-Stowe responded with a 7-0 run and held a 14-7 lead with 16:27 to play in the half. With the Hornets leading 20-15, Columbia College's offense came alive and went on an 8-2 run thanks to two three pointers from Ethan Thompson to take their first lead of the ballgame. Harris-Stowe responded with an 11-3 run of their own to take a 33-26 lead but the Cougars were able to score the next seven points in the contest to tie the game at 33. Columbia College continued to play well down the final stretch of the half and used a 7-5 run in the final minutes to take a 40-38 lead into the locker room. Ethan Thompson led all scorers with 12 points in the half after going 4-for-5 from behind the arc.
In the second half, Harris-Stowe came out and went on a 12-4 run to take a 50-44 lead in the game. The Cougars responded by scoring the next eight points to take a 52-50 advantage and the score remained close for the next few minutes of the half. However, with the score tied at 58 with seven minutes left in the contest, Columbia College was able to use a 13-7 run over the next five minutes and held a 71-65 lead with two minutes to play in the game. The Hornets battled back and were able to cut the lead to three with a minute left to play, but that was as close as they would get as the Cougars played tough defense down the stretch to solidify their second win of the season.
Adam Mennemeyer led the way for Columbia College as he finished with a team high 17 points. In addition to Mennemeyer, Ethan Thompson finished with a career high 14 points, Steven Holloway finished with 13 points, and Justin Shaw added 11 points to round out the top scorers for the Cougars. Shaw and Thibault Benabid also added a game high nine rebounds apiece for Columbia.
The men's basketball team is back in action on Thursday, November 29th when they travel to Fulton, Missouri, to take on the William Woods (Mo.) University Owls in an AMC matchup. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
