07 Dec 2022 Mustangs beat Columbia at home
CONWAY — After dropping their American Midwest Conference home opener last Thursday night, Central Baptist College men’s basketball looked to rebound this afternoon when they welcomed the Cougars of Columbia College into A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse. CBC (6-4, 2-1 AMC) trailed by a point at halftime and used a strong defensive second half to power past CC (8-4, 2-2 AMC), winning 75-72.
Brevin Brimble led four Mustangs in double figures with 19 points while Jalen Adams added 17 (and a team-high eight rebounds) with Gabe Johnson chipping in 12 and Braylon Steen adding 11. Additionally, Adams moved past Victor Dukes into 10th on the all-time scoring list at CBC with 856 career points, just seven behind former teammate Kelvin Robinson for ninth. Shooting made the difference in the contest as CBC made 46 percent of their shots, compared to holding Columbia to 40 percent while also burying 53 percent of their three while holding the Cougars to just 37 percent from deep.
GAME FLOW
In a game that saw four ties and six lead changes, CBC opened with the first four points of the contest inside the first two minutes. Columbia took a 7-6 lead with 15:57 left in the first half and extended the lead to 9-6 before a layup from Tomas Mikyska and a three from Johnson gave CBC an 11-9 lead with 14:56 left in the first. Columbia would tie it at 11 before CBC got back out to a 15-11 lead only to see CC tie it again at 15. CC retook the lead with 10:10 to go at 17-15 but never led by more than five the rest of the quarter, as a three by Brimble with 53 seconds left in the first made it 31-30 in favor of the Cougars at the break.
Steen opened the second half with a three to give CBC the lead at 33-31 and another Steen jumper would stretch the lead to 35-31 with 18:49 left. The Cougars refused to go away, however, using a 5-0 run to jump back ahead 36-35. A floater by Brimble with 17:13 left made it 37-36 and started a 7-0 run for the Mustangs to give them a 42-36 lead with 16:21 left in the game. After a three cut the lead to 42-39, CBC went on a 9-2 run over the next 2:53 to lead 51-41 with 13:02 left, their largest lead of the game and the only time the lead reached double figures. CBC would stretch the lead back to nine on three different occasions but were never able to put the Cougars away and CC came back to tie the score again, this time at 62, with 3:34 left. A Johnson three with 2:35 left made it 65-62 before a three on the next Columbia possession made it 65-all again. A three by Brimble with 1:48 left gave CBC a 68-65 lead, and the Mustangs would hold on, getting a jumper from Johnson and going 5-6 at the free-throw line to close down the victory.
