Parkville, Mo. – The No. 22-ranked Columbia College men's basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with an 83-75 road win over Park University on Saturday in Parkville, Mo.
Columbia improved to 6-1 with the victory, while Park saw its two-game winning streak come to an end, dropping to 2-5. The game featured 14 ties and 23 lead changes in a back-and-forth battle.
The Cougars knocked down a season-high 15 three-pointers and shot an even 50 percent (30-60) from the field. They also held a 38-27 advantage on the boards but were hindered by a season-high 16 turnovers.
AJ Walker led Columbia with 19 points and seven assists.
Adam Sausele added 16 points,
Johnny Anderson scored 12, and
Max Rieger chipped in 11.
Jemeal Goines finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Columbia hit three of its first four shots to take an 8-4 lead in the opening 2:44, but five-straight points put the Pirates in front 16-14 with 13:01 remaining in the first half.
A three-point play and a bucket by Anderson highlighted a 9-0 run as Columbia regained the 34-28 lead with 3:45 left. The Cougars hit all four of their shots during the run.
Park closed the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 39-37 lead into the break after Columbia did not score in the final 2:04. The opening period featured eight ties and 10 lead changes.
Anderson and Walker each scored nine points for Columbia, which knocked down five threes and went 9-of-10 from two-point range in the first half.
Park took its largest lead of the game at 43-37 with 18:49 left, but back-to-back threes by Sausele and
Caleb Jones tied the score at 43-43. A three-pointer by
Jace Eskew gave the Cougars a 59-58 lead with 10:24 to play.
Trailing by three (69-66) with 4:23 to play, Walker canned a three followed by a corner three by Anderson to make it 72-69 and give the Cougars the lead for good. Rieger's corner three with 37 seconds left sealed the victory.
Clarence King (23 points), Octavio Armani (14) and Tyler Burrows (11) scored in double figures for Park, who hit just 16-of-27 (59.3 percent) from the foul line in the loss.
The Cougars have 12 days off before hosting the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 28-29. Benedictine and Hannibal-LaGrange meet in game on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by Columbia vs. Baker at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series 37-25 … The Cougars improved to 3-0 on the road … Columbia has hit 10 or more threes four times this season … The 38 three-pointers attempted are tied for the fourth most in a single game in school history.
