Men's Basketball | 12/1/2018 4:54:00 PM
Box Score Belleville, Ill. – The sixth ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action this afternoon when they traveled to Belleville, Illinois to take on the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx in an AMC matchup. The Cougars fell to the Lynx by a final score of 68-65 to move to 5-4 on the season and 2-2 in the AMC.
The Lynx took the early 6-2 lead over the Cougars as the game was underway. While Columbia was trying to find their groove, they cut the score 9-8. After about eight minutes of play, the Lynx had used a run to take a 15-8 lead, causing a Cougar timeout. Columbia was struggling to get things going on their end, as they trailed by 10 with about nine minutes remaining in the half. With 4:35 before the break the Lynx had taken a 30-16 lead over Columbia. At halftime, the Cougars were able to cut the lead to 10 as they were behind 36-26. Desmond Funches led the Cougars with 10 points, while as a team they were 12-13 from the free throw line.
In the beginning of the second half, the Cougars would crack the double digit deficit twice, but struggle to stop the Lynx on the offensive end as it was 46-34 about five minutes in. The Cougars were not giving up, with under 10 to play they had cut the score 53-47. Columbia needed an extra spark to push them past the hump as they were down 61-55 with 3:50 on the clock. An and-one completion from Justin Shaw would put the Cougars down by four, but the Lynx answered back with a three from their end right away. Columbia made a late run cutting the score 68-65 with 27 seconds left in the game. The Cougars had the ball in the final seconds, but were unable to convert as they dropped to the Lynx 68-65.
Adam Mennemeyer (16), Desmond Funches (10), Darrick Ellis (10), and Thibault Benabid (10) were all in double digits. In addition, Justin Shaw brought down nine rebounds, while Funches also gave out three assists.
The men's basketball team is back in action on Thursday, December 13th, when they travel to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to take on the Williams Baptist University Eagles in an AMC matchup. The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
