Kansas City, Mo. - This afternoon the sixth ranked, and second seeded, Columbia College men's basketball team was back on the court in Kansas City, Missouri, when they took on the seventh seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) University Tigers in the first round of the 2018 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championships. The Cougars, who earned an automatic bid to the National Championship after winning the AMC regular season title, were unable to defeat the Tigers as they fell by a final score of 75-66.
The Cougars came out in the first half of the game and took it to the Tigers early jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. They played tough defense to start the game and did not allow Campbellsville to score a basket until nearly four minutes into the half as they grew their lead to 9-0. Despite having difficulties scoring the ball early in the game, the Tigers were able to bounce back as the half progressed and went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 9-7 before a 6-0 run from the Cougars pushed their lead back to eight with 12 minutes to play in the half.
Campbellsville came storming back over the next few minutes and were able to take their first lead of the ballgame with eight minutes to play when they took a 20-19 lead. However, their lead did not last long as Nathan Biggs came back on the other end of the floor and knocked down a three point shot to retake the lead. Both teams exchanged points over the next few possessions but with the score tied at 26 the Tigers went on a 4-0 run to take a 30-26 advantage with two minutes to play in the half. The Cougars battled back in the final minutes of the period and were able to cut the lead to 31-30 at the break. Adam Mennemeyer led the way for Columbia with nine points in the half.
The Cougars came out in the second half and were able to go on a 7-6 run to start the half to tie the game at 36 with 15 minutes to play in the game. The Tigers responded with a 7-2 run of their own and held a 43-38 lead with just under 12 minutes left to play. Campbellsville continued to push the tempo as the half progressed and were able to grow their lead to 54-44 with eight minutes left in the game. Even with Columbia trailing, they never let the Tigers get too far ahead and came storming back over the next few minutes going on a 7-0 run to cut the lead back down to three. The Tigers quickly called timeout to stop the momentum and then answered with a 6-0 run of their own to extend their lead back to nine late in the game. Columbia College did their best to get back into the game in the closing minutes but their shots just did not seem to fall as the Tigers closed them out down the stretch to advance to the second round.
Adam Mennemeyer led the way for Columbia as he finished with a team high 19 points and added six rebounds. To go along with Mennemeyer, Nathan Biggs finished with 13 points, Nic Reynolds finished with 12 points, Jackson Dubinski finished with a game high nine assists, and Lucky Ogbomo brought down a team high 10 rebounds to round out the top performers for the Cougars.
This marks the end of the 2017-18 season for the men's basketball team. They finished the season with an overall record of 27-5 and 19-3 mark in conference play.
