Cougars Suffer Road Loss

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The No. 23 Columbia College men’s basketball team dropped a non-conference road matchup against Mount Mercy (Iowa) this evening, 98-72.

The Cougars move to 7-3 on the season.

Columbia put up a competitive first half of action, taking their largest lead of the contest with 8:32 on the clock, 27-18.

Late in the first half, the Cougars went on a three minute scoring drought which allowed the Mustangs to capture a 39-31 advantage. Heading into the half, Mount Mercy picked up a 43-33 edge.

The Mustangs recorded a field goal percentage of nearly 47 percent (14-30), while also hitting 47 percent of their three-pointers (7-15). The Cougars were held to 37 percent from the field and 20 percent from the arc.

Mount Mercy slowly added to their advantage, shooting a remarkable 68 percent from the field (19-28) and 73 percent from three (9-13). The Mustangs produced their largest lead of the game of 29 points with under a minute to go in regulation. As a result, Mount Mercy took a 98-72 victory.

Ryan Bartley and Rusmir Hamzic each added 28 points apiece for the Mustangs, accumulating more than half of their points.

Collin Parker led the way for the Cougars, securing 21 points, while bringing down seven rebounds. Dogukan Kara dished out three assists on the night.

Columbia returns to action as they host Central Christian College of the Bible (Mo.) on December 8 at 12:00 p.m.