Second-Half Rally Lifts Cougars Past Missouri Baptist

St. Louis, Mo. – The Columbia College men’s basketball team scored the final seven points of the game and rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to post a 70-64 win at Missouri Baptist University Thursday at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex in St. Louis.
 
Columbia won its third-straight game to improve to 11-4 (2-1 AMC), while Missouri Baptist fell to 11-6 (2-1 AMC).
 
Isaiah Holden, Trever Moore and Collin Parker each scored 13 points for the Cougars, who hit 16-of-22 free-throws in the second half. Marlon Allen added eight points and 11 rebounds, scoring six points in the final 5:15.
 
Columbia hit 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) from the foul line in the win, and  outrebonded Missouri Baptist 47-37.
 
Missouri Baptist made four of its first five shots from the field and led 9-2 in the opening 2:19. Beau Washer’s bucket with 12:50 to play snapped a string of six-straight misses by the Cougars and trimmed the advantage to 15-7.
 
Collin Parker and Washer each nailed a three to highlight an 8-0 run by the Cougars and cut the lead to 17-15 with 10:14 to play before half.
 
Moore scored five-straight points to get the lead down to two (22-20), but the Spartans responded with seven points of their own to get the lead back to 29-20.
 
Keyyaun Batchman had 15 first-half points as Missouri Baptist led 38-28 at half. The Spartans hit six threes in the first half. Moore led the Cougars with seven points off the bench as the Cougars shot 30.3 percent (10-33) from the field and hit 4-of-10 from the foul line.

Collin Parker (7) and Holden (6) combined to score the first 13 points of the second half as the lead was trimmed to 44-41. Four-straight points by Carson Parker and a three-pointer by Moore gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 48-47 with 12:48 to play.
 
Columbia went on an 8-0 run to gain a 62-58 advantage with 4:32 left behind a pair of buckets from Allen, and then he nailed two free-throws to give the Cougars a 65-64 lead with 2:33 to play.
 
Batchman led Missouri Baptist with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Connor Redrow added 10 and eight rebounds. The Spartans were limited to 39.3 percent (24-61) shooting in for the game, including 31.0 percent (9-29) in the second half.
 
The Cougars host University of Health & Sciences on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m.
 
NOTES: This marked the 84th all-time meeting between the two teams  with Columbia leading the all-time series 52-32… Columbia’s bench outscored Missouri Baptist 24-19.