Burks and Parker Lead Cougars Past Missouri Valley

Columbia, Mo. – Tony Burks and Collin Parker each scored 19 points to lead the Columbia College men’s basketball team to a 68-63 victory over Missouri Valley College Saturday at The Arena of Southwest Complex.
 
Columbia improved to 3-0 with the win, while Missouri Valley fell to 0-2. The Cougars are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
 
Parker secured a double-double with 11 rebounds, while Beau Washer added seven points and 12 rebounds. Columbia shot 37.5 percent (27-72) from the field and outrebounded Missouri Valley 49-38.
 
TJ Wallace scored the first seven points of the game for the Vikings as they led 7-2, but the Cougars responded with a 10-0 run to take the 12-7 advantage. Washer’s three-pointer from the wing gave the Cougars a 17-13 lead with 10:41 to play.
 
Burks banked home a short jumper at the buzzer to give Columbia a 33-32 lead at half. He led all scorers with 12 first-half points. Columbia shot 35.0 percent (14-40) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
Parker hit a pair of treys in the first two minutes of the second half as the Cougars lead grew to 41-34 and forced a Missouri Valley timeout.
 
The Cougars got the lead up to eight (62-54) on a layup by Washer with 5:10 to play, but the Vikings would not go away. Missouri Valley answered with a 7-0 run in a span of 90 seconds to trim the lead to 62-61 with 2:42 to play.
 
With the Cougars leading by one, Trendon Tisdale banked in a runner to make it a three-point game (66-63) with 37 seconds left.
 
Wallace (15) and Jace Lance (14) scored in double figures for the Vikings, who shot 39.4 percent (26-66) from the field in the loss.
 
Columbia leads the all-time series with Missouri Valley 33-12.
 
The Cougars travel to Canton, Mo. to take on Culver-Stockton College in opening round of the Fairfield Inn Classic on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.