Walnut Ridge, Ark. – The No. 16-ranked Columbia College men's basketball team had its nine-game winning streak snapped with a 90-75 loss at Williams Baptist University on Saturday in Walnut Ridge, Ark. The 90 points allowed was a season high.
The Cougars shot 32.9 percent (24-of-73) from the field and hit just 5-of-27 from three-point in the loss. Columbia had the advantage on the glass (53-42) and second-chance points (26-23).
Williams Baptist improved to 16-3 and 6-3 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), while Columbia fell to 19-3 overall and 7-1 in the AMC. The Cougars are tied for first place in the AMC standings with Hannibal-LaGrange University.
The Cougars return home to host Hannibal-LaGrange on Tuesday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Jemeal Goines had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while
Caleb Jones had 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
Max Rieger had 10 points off the bench.
A slow start saw the Cougars connect on just 3-of-16 from the field and trail 13-10 in the opening eight minutes. Benjamin Noonan's jumper extended the Williams Baptist lead to 20-14 with 8:59 remaining in the first half.
Goines knocked down a three from the top of the key to trim the deficit to 22-19, but Columbia went into the break trailing 37-26.
Columbia shot just 6-of-31 from the field (19.4 percent) in the first half but stayed within striking distance by going 11-of-16 at the free-throw line. Goines led CC with nine points, while leading scorer Jones was limited to two points due to three fouls.
Williams Baptist opened the second half on a 9-2 run to extend the lead to 47-28 and force a 30-second timeout by Columbia. The Eagles upped their lead to 20 (52-32) on a deep three by Jesse Washington with 14:39 to play.
Deion Wesson (27 points), Jesse Washington (22) and Aseem Lucky (22) all scored 20 or more points for the Eagles, who shot 47.2 percent (34-of-72) from the field in the win.
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series 48-7 against Williams Baptist but had its 12-game win streak snapped … The double-double for Goines was his sixth of the season.
