Koala Men's Late Rally Falls Just Short vs. Rival CIU

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Columbia College men's basketball team played an exciting rivalry game with crosstown foe CIU on Wednesday evening in front of a packed house at the Godbold Center. Unfortunately, the Koala's late rally fell just short as they went down 93-87 from Columbia.

Senior guard Tae Burton led the Koalas with 26 points on 8 of 18 shooting and 7 assists whil junior wing Chandler O'Bannon recorded a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds with 4 assists and 4 steals as he played an all around good game.

Redshirt freshman forward Zach Smith also scored 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting with six rebounds, two assists and a steal before fouling out late in the game. Senior guard Alileyon Ford also finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds and two assists.

Columbia shot 48% overall and nearly 35% from three while knocking down 23 of 28 free throws while CIU shot 43.5% overall and 36 percent from three. However, the difference came at the free-throw line as the Rams made 29 freebies at a 75% clip. Both teams made exactly 28 field goals on the night and 8 threes.

CC got out to a fast start going up 12-3 after the first four and a half minutes. CC also led 23-16 halfway through the period before CIU ended the half on a 26-17 run to lead by two at 42-40 at the break.

CIU stretched the lead out to 12 points at 60-48 at the 13 minute mark and again at the 8-minute mark going up 72-60. However, Columbia would cut their deficit down to four twice in the final minute and was even within one possession at 90-87 with 16 seconds to go, but could not come through in the end.

The Koalas fell to 12-15 overall and 9-9 in the conference and into a tie for 7th place while CIU moves into a tie for second in the AAC at 12-6 and 17-9 overall. Columbia will finish their regular season on the road on Saturday at Tennessee Wesleyan at 4:00 pm before heading to the AAC tournament next week.