Hannibal, Mo. –
Collin Parker scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the first half to lead the Columbia College men's basketball team to a 65-60 win at Hannibal-LaGrange University Thursday in the American Midwest Conference opener for both teams.
Kai Steinman added 11 points and
Seth Larson had nine points and seven rebounds for Columbia, which limited Hannibal-LaGrange to 37.3 percent (22-59) shooting from the field. The Cougars also outrebounded the Trojans 34-26.
Columbia won its third-straight game to improve to 3-2 (1-0 AMC), while Hannibal-LaGrange dropped to 2-3 (0-1 AMC).
The Cougars hit five of their first six shots from the field and led 13-12 following a three by Parker. Columbia broke a 17-17 tie with a 7-0 run as Parker scored five of the seven points to make it 24-17.
The lead grew to double figures (33-23) with 2:52 left following a second 7-0 run of the half.
Parker led all scorers with 16 points as Columbia held a 35-27 lead at half. The Cougars limited Hannibal-LaGrange to 28.1 percent (9-32) shooting from the field.
Parker scored the first six points of the second half as the Cougars led 41-32, and then
Justin Boyer canned a three to give Columbia its largest lead of the game at 44-32.
Leading by 10, Hannibal-LaGrange went on a 7-0 run to trim the advantage to 55-52 with 6:15 left. Chris Cross had five of the seven points during the run.
The lead was cut to four (58-54) with less than four minutes left, but
Seth Larson canned a corner three to get the lead back to seven. Larson had a put-back with 17.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
Josiah Talton (14 points), Kell Estep (12) and Malakai Munoz (12) all scored in double figures for Hannibal, which hit nine threes in the loss.
The Cougars continue their road trip at Mission University (Springfield, Mo.) on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.
NOTES: Columbia has won 21-straight games against Hannibal-LaGrange and leads the all-time series 76-12 ... The Cougars picked up career win No. 994 in program history, six shy of 1,000.
