Cougars fall to Missouri Valley by six
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Marshall, Mo. - The Columbia Cougar men's basketball team recorded their fifth loss of the season tonight, falling to Missouri Valley College 66-62. With the loss, the Cougars, ranked No. 19 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll, fall to 3-5 on the season. The Vikings continue their seven game win streak and are 7-1 overall.
In the first half of action the Cougars struggled offensively and never really got on pace. The Vikings led the majority of the half and took a 33-26 advantage at the break.
The Cougars stayed close in the second half and in the final minutes of the contest were able to print the game within two points on multiple occasions. However, Columbia was forced to foul to prevent the Vikings from running down the clock. The Vikings made all but one of their attempts from the charity stripe in the final minute which in turn forced Columbia to look for three-point opportunities. The Cougars found themselves down by four with 1.8 seconds to go and possession of the ball, but the attempt did not fall before time ran out, giving the Vikings the Victory.
Just two Cougars scored in double figures tonight, led by Chad Thompson with 20 points. Thompson also pulled down a team high eight rebounds Josh Davis came off the bench to chip in 10 points.
Brian Porter led the way for the Vikings with 14 points.
The Cougars return to action this weekend, Nov. 27-28 when they host the Best Western Thanksgiving Classic in the Arena of Southwell Complex. Games are slated for 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday and 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Cougars will face Avila (Mo.) University at 8 p.m. on Friday and Lindenwood (Mo.) University at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College rounds out the field of four teams participating in the event.