ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] A big first half carried the No. 7 Columbia Cougars to a 79-63 win over Missouri Baptist Saturday afternoon.

The top team in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) opened the game on an 8-0 run and never looked back. MBU (7-7, 1-5) dug itself into too big of a hole after 20 minutes of play to manage an upset.

The Spartans outscored Columbia (14-1, 7-0) by six- 41-35 after halftime, but a poor shooting first half left them in a deficit. MBU shot just 21.2 percent as a unit in half number one, while Columbia hit exactly half of its 34 attempts.

After a 3-pointer from Nic Reynolds, CC led 31-9 11 minutes in. The two teams traded buckets from then on and the Cougars led by that same 22-point margin, 44-22 at the half. The 3-point ball was the main weapon for the home team, as CC hit on 8 of its 14 attempts from distance.

Seniors Will Harrington and Jared White led the navy and white comeback attempt in the second half. Harrington chipped in 12 points in the second half, White added 10 more and the Spartan offense shot much better overall. In half two, the Spartans shot an even 50 percent on 30 attempts, while limiting Columbia to just eight field goals on 34.8 percent shooting.

A bucket plus the foul from Johnny Benson with 18:23 left got the deficit below 20 and the Spartans chipped away the rest of the half. A 13-5 MBU run over the course of roughly five minutes cut the CC lead to single digits at 64-55 with 6:34 left in the game. Two free throws from Harrington put the deficit below 10 for the first time since the early going.

However, Hank Matthews hit a 3-pointer on the other end for Columbia and MBU wouldn't get any closer. Jackson Dubinski led the Cougars with 22 points on 4-of-7 shooting from distance.

White finished with a team-high 15 points, Harrington had 14 and Johnny Benson finished with 11. Harrington also had a team-high nine rebounds. MBU gets back to action at home on Tuesday against Hannibal-LaGrange. Tip is set for 7:30 pm. The game begins a string of five straight home games for MBU.