Fulton, Mo. – William Woods University broke open a two-point game in the second half with a 16-4 run to defeat the Columbia College men's basketball team 66-65 Saturday in Fulton, Mo.
Trailing by one with 3.2 seconds left, the Cougars forced a turnover but were unable to get off a shot off before time expired.
Columbia shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field and hit 21-of-25 (84.0 percent) from the free-throw line in the loss.
Collin Parker (21 points),
Tony Burks (13),
Marlon Allen (12) and
Brock Davis (12) scored in double figures for the Cougars.
Williams Woods improved to 13-11 (7-7 AMC) with the win, while Columbia dropped to 18-8 (13-3 AMC). The Cougars are tied for first place in the AMC standings with two conference games remaining.
Columbia jumped in front 7-2 in the opening three minutes behind seven points from Parker, but William Woods fought back to tie the score at 18-18 with 7:06 left on a three-point play by Jared Crutcher. The Owls took their first lead of the game (22-20) on a bucket by Crutcher with less than six minutes to play.
Columbia trailed 35-30 at half after shooting 32.0 percent (8-25) from the field. The Cougars kept it close by hitting 12-of-13 from the foul line. Parker (11 points) and Allen (8) combined for 19 of 30 points.
Parker's three capped a 7-0 run to start the second half as the Cougars regained the two-point advantage at 37-35. William Woods answered back with a 16-4 run to take the 50-41 lead with 13:04 to play.
William Woods led 60-46 with 8:57 to play when the Cougars mounted a comeback. Burks' free-throw capped a 15-2 run as Columbia trimmed the advantage to two (62-61) with 1:22 to play. Burks made two free-throws with 19 seconds left to cut the lead to one (66-65).
Fred Robinson (14 points) and Nathan Schwartze (10) scored in double figures for Williams Woods, who shot 46.9 percent (23-49) from the field and had 11 blocks in the win.
Columbia hosts University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series with William Woods 27-8 and had its three-game win streak snapped ... Burks and Parker have scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games played.
