Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College men's basketball team had five players score in double figures as the Cougars posted an 86-74 win over Mission University Saturday at the Arena of Southwell Complex.
 
Columbia won its fourth-straight contest to improve to 16-5 (9-2 AMC), while Mission suffered its second-straight loss and dropped to 6-11 (4-6 AMC). The Cougars are one game behind first place Central Baptist and William Woods in the AMC standings.
 
Collin Parker recorded the 21st double-double of his career with 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Harrison Vickers (15 points), Kai Steinman (13 points, five assists), Seth Larson (12 points, five rebounds, five assists), and Zhvaughn Ward (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Columbia shot 52.4 percent (33-63) from the field in the win.
 
Vickers' three-point play gave the Cougars an early 14-9 lead, and then a 7-0 run by Columbia pushed the advantage to 28-22 with 10:04 to play in the first half.
 
Columbia took its largest lead of the first half at 35-27 with 7:47 left on a free-throw by Carson Parker, but a 7-1 run by Mission cut the advantage to two.
 
Columbia took a 45-40 lead to halftime as Collin Parker had 13 points and Steinman added nine. The Cougars shot 51.6 percent (16-31) from the field, but connected on just 4-of-16 from three-point range.
 
Collin Parker and Vickers canned threes as Columbia opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take a double-figure lead at 53-42. Mission answered with a 7-0 run to trim the advantage to 57-54 with 15:01 to play.
 
Columbia led by one with less than 12 minutes left before the Cougars went on a 10-1 run behind eight points from the bench to take a 77-66 lead with 8:04 left. Columbia limited Mission to 1-of-10 shooting to end the game and did not score in the final 3:32.
 
Larson Beem (19 points), Jacques Thomas (16 points, six rebounds), Peyton Golightly (14 points) and Eli'Jah Smith (13 points, nine rebounds) scored in double figures for Mission, which hit just 7-of-31 from three-point range in the loss.
 
The Cougars begin a two-game road trip at Williams Baptist University on Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Walnut Ridge, Ark. 
 
NOTES: Columbia has won all 13 all-time meetings between the two teams ... The Cougars improved to 11-3 at home this season ... Carson Parker had six points and moved into 29th in program history in scoring (1,020) ... The game was tied five times and had three lead changes ... The 10 points for Ward tied a career high ... The Cougars have scored 80 or more in 10-straight games.