Columbia College still not finding answers

The Columbia College men’s basketball team just can’t seem to get it right.

Early in the season, it was foul trouble. The Cougars switched to a zone defense to, avoid fouls and keep the starters on the floor longer.

Then it was turnovers. The Cougars were making shots, but were taking themselves out of games by allowing teams to capitalize of their mistakes.

Tuesday night’s rematch against MidAmerica Nazarene University was supposed to be an indicator of the team’s progression since its 32-point loss to the Pioneers 18 days ago. But after another lopsided defeat, this time at home by a score of 83-59, the Cougars walked off the court, their heads shaking in disgust, with even more questions than they started with.

This time, playing with a short bench, the Cougars (2-5) had trouble finding an offensive rhythm. With scoring threat DeAndre’ Carroll sitting out Tuesday’s game for “breaching team rules,” the Cougars stumbled offensively, missing easy put-backs in the paint and shooting a season-worst 33.8 percent from the floor.

The Pioneers staggering defense didn’t make it any easier on the Cougars.

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Knowing the Cougars were playing short-handed, the Pioneers (6-0) came out with a relentless full-court press, forcing the Cougars into a fast-tempo game .

“We let them get a running start on us,” Cougars coach Bob Burchard said. “They’re relentless putting pressure on you.”

The Cougars were able to keep with Pioneers for most of the first half, in part to senior guard Ryan Steinhoff’s unlikely hot-hand from behind the arc. Through six games, Steinhoff had been tentatively shooting the deep ball, primarily dishing it off to the other shooters.

But on Tuesday, knowing the team was in desperate need of scoring, Steinhoff broke through with his best offensive performance of the season, hitting four 3-pointers on a 16-point night.

“You can’t get the ball, you can’t move the ball unless the guy (on defense) thinks you’re a threat.” Burchard said. “It’s just not in Ryan’s personality to do that. We’re trying to say, ‘Hey, we need some of that,’”

One consistent scorer for Columbia has been junior guard Trae Hall. Despite the Cougar’s offensive woes against Park, Hall again delivered, leading the Cougars with 21 points.

After the game, Hall refused to put the blame on the team wearing out, saying there is a much larger problem than playing without one of its best players.

“The thing our team is missing right now is the chemistry,” Hall said. “I mean, we lost that one player but we still have the same concept. We can still play together and beat them.”