Hannibal, Mo. – Tonight the third ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they traveled to Hannibal, Missouri, to take on the Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University Trojans in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Trojans by a final score of 69-67 to improve to 23-2 on the season and 15-2 in conference play.

Columbia College came out in the first half and were able to jump out to an early 10-4 in the first four minutes of the game. The Trojans battled back over the next few minutes and responded with a 13-5 run to take a 17-15 lead midway through the half. They were able to push their lead to as many six with seven minutes to play in the period but a 9-2 run from Columbia gave them a 26-25 advantage late in the half. Both sides exchanged baskets down the final stretch of the period but the Cougars lead by a score of 33-32 at the break. Columbia College went 10-24 from the field in the half and were led by Jalen Olds, Steven Holloway, Hank Mathews, and Nic Reynolds who each had five points in the half.

The Trojans came out of the locker room in the second half and went on a 9-2 run to start the period to take a 41-34 lead in the game. The Cougars quickly called timeout to stop the momentum and then went on a 9-2 run of their own to tie the game at 43 with 15 minutes left to play. Neither side was able to gain an advantage over the next few minutes of the half but with the score tied at 58 the Trojans knocked down back-to-back three's to take a six point lead with six minutes left in the game. Despite being down, Columbia battled back as the half progressed and the score was tied at 67 in the final minute. The Cougars had the ball on the final possession of the game and a late foul put Lucky Ogbomo on the line with just one second left to play. Ogbomo sank both free throws and Columbia was able to sneak out of Hannibal with their 15^th conference win of the season.

Nic Reynolds led the way for the Cougars offensively as he finished with a team high 17 point. To go along with Reynolds, Jackson Dubinski finished with 13 points and Lucky Ogbomo finished with a game high 10 rebounds to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, February 10^th when they play host to the Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University Hornets in an AMC matchup. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. in the Southwell Athletic Complex.