Columbia, Mo. – The No. 4 seed and 15th-ranked Columbia College men's basketball team had its season come to an end with a 75-67 loss to No. 12 seed Faulkner University in the 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Second Round on Saturday at the Arena of Southwell Complex.

The Cougars fell behind by 17 early in the second half and managed to cut the deficit to four with 1:17 remaining, but a three by Gideon Harris with 48 seconds left sealed the win.

Faulker improved to 22-9 with the victory, while Columbia had its 10-game win streak snapped and fell to 29-4. Faulkner advances to take on the winner of Nelson or Benedictine Mesa in the Round of 16 on Friday, March 19 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

Caleb Jones (16 points), AJ Walker (16), Johnny Anderson (11) and Max Rieger (11) scored in double figures for Columbia, which hit just 5-of-23 from three-point range and 10-of-20 from the free-throw line in the loss.

Faulkner opened the game on a strong run, and scored 11 straight points while connecting on five consecutive shots to give the Eagles a 15-5 lead in the first five minutes. Columbia struggled early, going more than four minutes without a field goal until a layup by Jones at the 13:40 mark snapped a streak of six straight misses.

The Eagles later added seven consecutive points to extend their lead to 31-15. Columbia answered with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 31-21 with 5:12 remaining in the first half.

Johnny Anderson sparked the Cougars late in the half, scoring nine straight points, but Faulkner maintained control and carried a 43-30 lead into halftime.

Columbia shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field in the half and connected on just 2-of-11 from three-point range. Anderson led Columbia with nine points, while Jones and Walker added seven points each. Faulkner also held a 10-2 advantage in second-chance points.

The Eagles took their largest lead of the contest at 49-32 with 16:33 to play on a three-pointer from Harris.

Back-to-back threes by Rieger got the lead down to eight, and then Rieger's lay-up got the deficit to six (58-52) with 8:36 to play. Faulkner went on a 9-0 to give the Eagles a commanding 67-52 lead with 6:05 left.

Harris (21 points), KJ Rogers (15), Jordyn Turner-Durley (13) and Tanner Vogel (13 points, 15 rebounds) scored in double figures for Faulkner, which hit 22-of-30 from the free-throw and outscored the Cougars 13-4 in second-chance points.

NOTES: This was the first meeting between the two teams … The Cougars finished the season 15-2 at home … Columbia is 14-25 all-time in 25 NAIA Tournament appearances.