Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College men's basketball team used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to surge past Central Methodist University 92-75 to open a three-game homestand on Wednesday at the Arena of Southwell Complex.
The Cougars shot 60.6 percent (20-33) from the field and outscored the Eagles 55-36 in the second half.
Marcelous Phillips scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, while
Drew Camacho (18 points),
AJ Tillman (18 points, seven assists) and
Logan Bishop (13 points) also scored in double figures. The Cougars hit a season-high 11 threes and had a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers in the win.
Columbia won its second-consecutive game to improve to 3-1, while Central Methodist had its two-game win snapped and fell to 2-2.
Columbia led 7-3 in the opening 2:30, but a 7-2 run by Central Methodist gave the Eagles their first lead of the contest at 10-9. Damian Thompson Jr. scored nine of the first 13 points for Central Methodist, who took their largest lead of the game at 24-17 with 8:35 to play following a layup by Thompson Jr.
Camacho and Bishop canned threes to get the deficit down to 27-25, and the Cougars trailed 39-37 at halftime.
Camacho had 14 points on four threes for Columbia, which shot 40.0 percent (14-35) from the field in the first half and hit just 4-of-11 from the free-throw line. Thompson Jr. had 16 to lead CMU, who shot a blistering 55.6 percent (15-27) in the opening half.
Phillips' three pointer highlighted a 7-0 run as the Cougars took the 49-44 lead, and then the lead grew to double figures (68-53) with 8:24 left after an 11-0 run. The advantage grew to 20 (89-69) following a pair of free-throws by Tillman.
Thompson Jr. scored a game-high 24 points, while Isaiah Bonaparte (15 points, nine assists) and Alejandro Delgado (11 points) also scored in double figures for CMU. The Eagles shot 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field and committed 15 turnovers.
The Cougars host Mount Mercy University on Saturday, November 7 at 1 p.m.
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series 36-20 … The Cougars celebrated Faculty Appreciation Night … The Cougars are 17-2 at home the last two seasons … Bishop, Phillips and Tillman each recorded a season-high point total …
Jeff Fleming pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
