Men’s Basketball Drops Close Contest to Evangel

Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College men’s basketball team was back on the court for the first time in 19 days facing (RV) Evangel (Mo.) at home. The Valor defeated the Cougars, 74-69.
 
The Cougars fall to 7-9, while Evangel improves to 10-4.
 
The Valor went up 5-0 in the first 45 seconds, but a Beau Washer triple tied the game at 5-5 with 16:09 left in the first half. A Kemryn Jenkins layup with 12:52 left gave CC their largest lead of the game at 11-9, but the Valor tied the game up a couple of seconds later. Evangel led by as many as 13 in the first half (36-23) with 1:43 remaining, but CC ended the half on a 7-2 run to close the gap to eight (38-30) at the intermission.
 
A three-pointer from Trendon Tisdale got the Cougars within one point (45-44) with 15:33 left in the game, but Evangel responded with a 10-0 run over the next 4+ minutes to extend the lead back to double figures (55-44). CC continued to battle and tied the game at 61-61 on a layup from Tony Burks with 5:53 left and took the lead when Beau Washer made a layup (63-61). Evangel would score 13 of the final 19 points to seal the road victory.
 
Key Moment:
The Cougars trailed by three (72-69) with 12 seconds remaining but could not get a basket. Evangel knocked down two free throws with a second left to seal the victory.
 
By the Numbers:
21 – Evangel forced 21 turnovers
6 – Each team drained six three-point field goals
51 – CC brought down a season-high 51 rebounds
26 – The Valor’s bench outscored the Cougar bench, 26-17
 
Columbia Leaders:
Scoring Leader – Trendon Tisdale (16) – career-high
Rebounding Leader – Chima Oduocha (10)
Assist Leader – Trendon Tisdale (10)
Steals Leader – Dogukan Kara, Tony Burks, Carson Parker, Beau Washer (1)
 
Evangel Leaders:
Scoring Leader – Cade Coffman (21)
Rebounding Leader – Edriel Martinborough (7)
Assist Leader – Manrique Alvarado, Josh Pritchett (4)
Steals Leader – Josh Pritchett, Edriel Martinborough, Cade Coffman (3)
 
Up Next:
The Cougars resume American Midwest Conference (AMC) play on Thursday, Jan. 6, when they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Health Sciences & Pharmacy (5-7). Opening tip is set for 7:30 PM.