Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the third ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they played host to the Williams Baptist (Ark.) College Eagles in an AMC matchup. The Cougars outlasted the Eagles by a final score of 89-87 to improve to 22-2 on the season and 14-2 in conference play.
The Eagles applied some full court pressure right off the bat, looking to rattle the Cougars. Columbia would handle the pressure well as each team exchanged baskets early. After seven minutes of play the Cougars were tied at 15. Both teams were playing strong defense, forcing each other to work for every basket. With just under 10 minutes left in the half, Columbia trailed 23-26. The Cougars continued to work the ball around on offense and did a good job of getting the ball down low and finishing in the post. With under five minutes to go, Columbia cut the lead to one as they trailed 34-35. After about a minute and a half of scoreless action, Hank Mathews knocked down a three to give the Cougars a 37-35 lead, however the Eagles quickly tied it back at 37. Mathews came up with a big steal in the final 30 seconds and was able to give the Cougars a 39-37 lead at the halftime break. Columbia shot 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
To start the second half, the Eagles continued to pressure the Cougars, going on a 10-2 run forcing Columbia to call a timeout. The Cougars came out of the timeout refocused and quickly went on a 10-0 run to take a 51-47 lead causing the Eagles to take a timeout of their own. As the game of runs continued, the Eagles would come right back taking a three point lead with 14 minutes to play. A big three point play from Adam Mennemeyer would tie the game at 56. As the half progressed the game continued to be back and forth, neither team able to find any separation. With 10 minutes remaining, Columbia held a one point lead 62-61. The Cougars were playing with good pace as they were able to go on an 8-2 run to put themselves ahead 70-63 causing the Eagles to call another timeout with seven and a half minutes to go. The Eagles were not going away as the Cougars led 75-70 with less than five minutes to play. With 24 seconds remaining the Cougars led 86-84. In the final 30 seconds, Jackson Dubinski would hit a free throw to give the Cougars a three point lead. With 18 seconds left, the Eagles nailed a deep three to tie the game, however Nic Reynolds would drive the lane and drop in the winning basket for Columbia as they won 89-87.
The Cougars were led by Adam Mennemeyer who recorded a career high 23 points. In addition, Hank Mathews (15), Nathan Biggs (14), Nic Reynolds (12) all tallied double digits, while Lucky Ogbomo had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jackson Dubinski dished out 5 assists to round out the top performers for Columbia.
The men's basketball team is back in action on Thursday, February 8th when they travel to Hannibal, Missouri to face the Hannibal-LaGrange University Trojans in an AMC matchup. The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
