Columbia, Mo. – Max Rieger scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half to lead the No. 16-ranked Columbia College men's basketball team to a 72-60 win over the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy on Tuesday at the Arena of Southwell Complex.
 
Columbia won its third-straight game to improve to 22-3 and 10-1 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), while UHSP fell to 5-19 and 2-9 in the AMC.
 
Johnny Anderson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Caleb Jones added 12 second-half points. Columbia forced 18 turnovers and tied a season-high with seven blocks.
 
The Cougars jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the opening six minutes, limiting UHSP to 1-of-7 shooting from the field to start the contest.
 
Columbia pushed the lead to 28-6 following a 14-0 run, highlighted by a dunk from Marcelous Phillips. Bryant Odunayo knocked down three triples for UHSP to trim the advantage to 30-15, but back-to-back threes from Jace Eskew and Anderson stretched the lead back to 36-15.
 
The Cougars built a commanding 38-18 lead at halftime, holding UHSP to 21.4 percent (6-of-28) shooting and forcing 11 turnovers. Anderson led all scorers with 11 points at the break.
 
Columbia missed its first eight shots of the second half, allowing the Eutectics to score the first 13 points and trim the lead to 38-31. Rieger canned a three-pointer from the wing and end the drought with 15:33 left to make it 41-31.
 
The Cougar lead dwindled to six, 41–35, with 14:20 remaining, forcing a CC timeout. Overall, UHSP opened the second half on a 17-3 run as the Cougars missed 11 of their first 12 shots out of the break. Rieger scored on a lay-up and then canned a three-pointer to get the lead back to 53-42 with 6:22 to play.
 
Columbia hit its last five shots from the field, including a three-pointer by Adam Sausele with 3:21 left that made it 61-53.
 
Odunayo (15 points), Brennen Walker (13), David Moore (11) and Yigit Ekinci (10) scored in double figures for UHSP, which hit 8-of-25 from three-point range in the loss.
 
The Cougars continue AMC play at Mission University on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
 
NOTES: Columbia has won 11-straight games against UHSP and leads the all-time series 22-2 … The Cougars are 13-1 at home this season … Head coach Tomas Brock is one win shy of 150 for his career … Columbia had 14 steals, the second most of the season.