Cougars Fall in Final Seconds to Missouri Baptist

Columbia, Mo. – Jadis White drilled a 25-foot three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift the Missouri Baptist University men’s basketball team to a 72-71 win at Columbia College on Saturday at The Arena of Southwell Complex.
 
Tony Burks made 1-of-2 free-throws with six seconds left to push the Columbia lead to two, before White went the distance and hit the game-winning shot. Missouri Baptist outscored Columbia 8-1 in the final 16 seconds. 
 
Missouri Baptist improved to 13-12 (9-4 AMC) with the win, while Columbia fell to 17-7 (9-3 AMC). The Cougars remain in first place in the AMC standings with a half game lead.
 
Burks scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, while Collin Parker added 15 and Cole Gerken had 10. The Cougars shot 41.3 percent (26-63) from the field, hitting just 8-of-24 from three-point range, and had a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Missouri Baptist jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 2:17 as the Cougars missed their first four shots from the field. The Spartans built a double-digit advantage with a 9-0 run to take a 23-12 advantage with 10:55 to play.
 
Trendon Tisdale capped a 6-0 run with a three-pointer to trim the Spartan advantage to 25-22, but a 7-0 run by Missouri Baptist made it a double-digit advantage (34-24) and the Spartans took a 37-31 lead to half. 
 
Columbia struggled from the field in the first half shooting 34.5 percent (10-29), including 3-of-14 from beyond the arc. The Cougars had four players score six points apiece.
 
Trailing by nine, Columbia went on a 10-2 to cut the lead to one (44-43) with 15:56 to play following back-to-back treys from Parker. 
 
The Cougars held the Spartans scoreless for over five minutes and responded with a 14-0 run to take the 59-53 advantage with 6:32 left. Burks had eight of the 14 points, while Parker and Tommy Hafer added threes.
 
Missouri Baptist battled back to take a one-point (60-59) lead, but a 7-0 run gave the Cougars a 66-60 advantage with 3:07 to play.
 
Nico Hill (14 points), Bryce Johnson (12), White (11) and Tyrell Andrews (10) all scored in double figures for Missouri Baptist, who shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field and had a 33-15 advantage in bench points.
 
The Cougars host Harris-Stowe State Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm.
 
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series with Missouri Baptist 51-32 … Burks has scored over 20 points in four-straight games … Columbia is 12-2 at home this season … Burks and Parker have both scored in double figures in 22 of 24 games.