Columbia, Mo. – This evening the fifth ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they played host to the Lyon College (Ark.) Scots in the quarterfinal round of the AMC Championships . The Cougars fell to the Scots by a final score of 61-65 in overtime. With a 27-4 record on the season Columbia will await the National Tournament selection show which will take place March 7th at 6:00 p.m.
Prior to the game the 2017-18 AMC Academic All-Conference members were announced. For their efforts in the classroom the following Cougars were recognized, Alex Moore, Jackson Dubinski, Malcolm Reed, Nathan Biggs, and Nic Reynolds. Nic Reynolds was also recognized as Columbia's Champion of Character.
The Cougars started off going 3-3 from beyond the arc which contributed to a 13-9 lead five minutes into the game. Over the next few minutes Columbia went on a 10-2 run to lead 23-11. The Cougars defense was very sound to start as the Scots had to work for each basket. However, the Scots went on a run of their own cutting the Cougars lead to three with just over seven minutes to play before the half. The Scots tied the game at 23 with five minutes remaining as they held the Cougars scoreless for about six and half minutes. Lyon took a 25-23 lead forcing Columbia to call a timeout. The Scots took a five point lead after the timeout, but the Cougars offensive silence was broken with a basket from Hank Mathews to cut the lead to two. Over the last minutes of the half, Columbia remained right behind the Scots. In the final seconds, Jackson Dubinski would grab a momentum swinging steal and finish it off by knocking down a three to give the Cougars a 31-30 lead at halftime. Columbia shot 52 percent from the field and 55 percent from three in the first half.
Over the first four minutes of the second half, the Scots would take a 37-33 lead. The Cougars quickly cut the lead back to two after knocking down some free throws. Columbia found themselves trailing 36-39 with 11 and a half minutes left in the game. A big drive from Nic Reynolds would put the Cougars within one point of the Scots. As Columbia pushed the ball down the floor, Dubinski found Darrick Ellis to take the lead back. The Cougars quickly grabbed another bucket off of a steal from Nathan Biggs to lead 42-39 with nine minutes to go. Lyon wasted no time as they tied the game back up at 44, but Reynolds answered from beyond the arc on the next possession to lead 47-44. The game remained tight as the Cougars held a 52-49 lead with 3:20 on the clock. With one minute left, Columbia led by three. The Scots were sent to the free throw line with 1.2 seconds remaining. After hitting the first free throw, the score was 56-54 Cougars. Free throw shooter, Emir Sabic, executed his plan perfectly as he missed on purpose, catching his own rebound in the air and hitting a bucket at the buzzer as regulation ended 56-56.
In overtime, the Scots went on a 7-0 run to lead 63-56 with just over a minute to play. Mennemeyer would cut the lead to four with a three from the top of the arc as there was 1:09 on the clock. With 15.6 seconds the Cougars trailed 61-63. Columbia was unable to overcome the Scots as they fell 61-65.
Columbia was led by Adam Mennemeyer who recorded 18 points going 3-5 from three. In addition, Jackson Dubinski tallied 12 points going 3-6 from three with four assists. Nathan Biggs pulled down a team high nine rebounds, while Steven Holloway also dished out four assists on the night.
