Columbia, Mo. – This evening the Columbia College men's basketball team played host to the William Woods University Owls in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were defeated by a final score of 68-87. Columbia moves to 9-11 on the season and 4-9 in conference play.
William Woods went on a 6-0 run to begin the game before the Cougars broke the board. Columbia was able to fight right back and tie the game at eight points each, about six and a half minutes in. The Cougars were having a hard time slowing the Owls down on offense as the Owls led 19-10. Columbia called for a timeout as they continued to trail in the first half, 28-17, with around six minutes left before halftime. A big slam from Braden Wendal, assisted by Jalen Olds, followed by Adam Mennemeyer hitting one from downtown, quickly cut the lead to 33-28 with under two minutes left in the first. In the final seconds, Wendal found Desmond Funches who nailed a three from the corner to make the halftime score 35-31, Owls.
After letting the Owls grab the first few buckets in the second half, the Cougars slowly chipped back in as they trailed by four, 45-41, just over four minutes into the half. Columbia called another timeout as they trailed 54-45 with 12 minutes left in the game. A strong finish at the rim from Wendal sent him to the line where he completed the three-point play to cut the deficit to single digits, 56-48. Under 10 to play and Columbia was behind by six. However, William Woods stretched their lead as they were up 71-55 with 6:15 to go. As the game wrapped up, the Cougars could not overcome the Owls as they fell 68-87.
Desmond Funches had 10 points, two assists, and six rebounds, while Thibault Benabid had nine points and seven boards. In addition, Adam Mennemeyer had nine points and nine rebounds and Braden Wendal dished out three assists on the night.
The men's basketball team is back at home on Saturday, January 26th to take on the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx in an AMC contest. The game is set to start at 3:00 p.m. in Southwell Complex.
