Johnson Men Too Strong for Koala Basketball

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Columbia College men's basketball team fell 90-59 on the road at AAC foe Johnson University (TN) Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.

Johnson got out to a 21-9 lead after the first 10 minutes before extending it to 30-12 after 15 minutes. JU would ultimately lead 39-24 at the halftime break. Unfortunately, the Koalas could get no closer than 13 points in the second half as CC shot 36.5 percent overall, but just 27% from three while JU shot 47 percent overall and 28 percent from three. 

Columbia was led by 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting from senior guard Alileyon Ford along with his 3 assists while senior guard Tae Burton also finished in double-digits with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Sophomore guard Jaylin McDuffie had a strong game off the bench with 9 points while senior wing Thomas Whitley led the Koalas with nine rebounds along with 6 points and two assists. Sophomore forward Zach Smith also tallied 8 points in the loss.

Columbia falls to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference while JU improves to 1-4 and is 1-1 in the AAC. Johnson is now tied for 4th in the league while the Koalas are tied for 6th place.