Cougar basketball falls to Williams Baptist by seven
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Walnut Ridge, Ark. - The Cougar men’s basketball team logged their first loss of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) regular season tonight, falling to Williams Baptist (Ark.) College 59-52. With the loss the Cougars fall to 6-11 on the year and 0-1 in AMC play. The Eagles improve to 8-7 overall and 1-0 in league competition.
The Cougars started the game off a little sluggish and quickly found themselves behind by 11 points. Columbia turned things around in the final minutes of the half and headed to the locker room all tied up at 28.
The Cougars held a short lead in the second half, but could not hold on as the Eagles again extended their lead in the second frame. Williams Baptist went up by as many as nine points in the second 20 minutes. The Cougars found themselves down three with 32 seconds remaining and with the ball in Williams Baptists’ hands, the Cougars were forced to foul. Now down by five, Columbia made their way down the court and were unable to connect, placing the ball back in the Eagles hands. The Cougars sent Williams Baptist back to line to make it a seven point game. With time running out Columbia shots would fall short.
Jaron Strickland and Greg Stegeman led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points apiece. Taylor Evans and Kaleb Turner chipped in 11 points each. Vitaly Ahmedov pulled down eight rebounds including seven in the first half.
The Cougars return to AMC action this Saturday, January 9th when they host Park (Mo.) University. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Arena of Southwell Complex.