Cougars, Edwards recover from defeat

If the Columbia College men’s basketball team was disappointed after a tough loss Thursday, the Cougars didn’t show it.

Columbia College (20-12, 9-3 American Midwest Conference) started strongly against Hannibal-LaGrange on Saturday and maintained focus throughout a solid 85-70 win at the Arena of Southwell Complex.

“I really liked how lively we looked,” coach Bob Burchard said. “We had a good workout yesterday. Everyone was disappointed with the result Thursday.”

Among those who recovered nicely was senior point guard Aaron Edwards. Edwards led brilliantly after struggling during the Cougars’ 82-70 loss at Missouri Baptist on Thursday.

“Last game, I didn’t play too well,” Edwards said. “Going into the second half of the season, I just wanted to push it over with some momentum.”

The Cougars did so early on, never allowing Hannibal-LaGrange (9-21, 2-10) to be competitive. Near-flawless shooting and stern defense gave Columbia College a 32-9 lead in the first half.

Credit junior forward Nahowan Saxon with igniting the crowd early. Primarily a post option, Saxon hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 of his 24 in the first 10 minutes.

“He’s playing really confident right now,” Burchard said. “He was really good in a tough game Thursday, and then we worked out hard yesterday, and he was really good yesterday.”

Saxon isn’t surprised by his recent success.

“My confidence, it is pretty high,” he said. “I kept shooting, and they keep falling.”

The Cougars received strong play from junior forward Obinna Amaefule.

“He’s a beast, so we need him to be a beast every night,” Edwards said. “He’s definitely starting to play.”

Amaefule scored 13 while helping to limit Trojan senior Phillip Clophus to 18 points.

The win gives the Cougars their 20th of the season, something that seemed unlikely after a disappointing start.

“To be the 2nd team in the league and win 20 games I think is really a tribute to what can happen when a team turns into a team,” Burchard said. “It took us a long time to do that, unfortunately, but you know when we did we got pretty doggone good.

“This isn’t the most talented group of guys that we’ve had at Columbia College, and we kept thinking as we were working our way through the first semester that we could become a good team. I think a 20-win season for most college basketball teams is a mark of that. So it’s nice to get.”

Seniors Craig Bryan, Tim Melz and Edwards stood alongside family members before playing their last regular-season game. Each of the three transferred to Columbia College before their junior season.

“I’m just thanking God that everybody’s here, safe and sound, drove a long way to see me,” Edwards said. “So it was a good night to have a good game.”

The two teams should meet again Thursday in the first round of the AMC tournament.

“It’s a good bounce-back from the loss we had,” Saxon said. “We got to go into the tournament really confident.”