Fayette, Mo. - After trailing by as many as 14 points, the (RV) Central Methodist Men's Basketball team mounted a furious second half comeback to defeat cross-town rival (RV) Columbia College Friday night inside Puckett Field House.
The Eagles keep their perfect record intact at 4-0, while the Cougars now stand at 3-1.
CMU led 24-16 midway through the first half, before the Cougars went on a 12-0 scoring run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 28-24 lead. Isaiah Williams broke the scoring drout with a basket at the 6:11 mark.
Central kept the lead within six for a majority of the half, before a three-point shot as time expired for Columbia College pushed the lead to nine at the halftime break.
The Cougars pushed their lead to as many as 14 midway through the second. Central began chipping away at the deficit with stingy defense, holding the Cougars scoreless over the final 5:58 of the game.
CMU ultimately came within two points on a basket from Isaiah May at the 3:30 mark.
A steal and layup by Marcus Anthony tied the game at 70-70, followed by a free throw from Everett Stubblefield to give Central its first lead since the 9:01 mark of the first.
With 1:22 remaining, Central stalled another Columbia College offensive possession. May put the exclamation point on the game with a defensive rebound and a coast-to-coast dunk to put CMU up 73-70.
The lid remained on the basket for the Cougars as they were unable to respond. Both Stubblefield and May converted four-straight free throws in the final 20 seconds to ice the game, 77-70.
Three different Eagles landed in double figures, led by May who tallied 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the floor. The senior also nearly earned a double-double with eight rebounds.
Stubblefield followed with 12 points while dishing out three assists, and recording two rebounds and a steal. Newcomer Peter Turay finished the evening with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
TreVon Smith chipped in nine points, four rebounds, and two assists, while Williams added eight points. Trey Sinegal recorded eight points and six rebounds coming off the bench.
Anthony tallied seven points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist.
As a team, Central shot 44.6-percent from the floor and 33.3-percent from beyond the arc. In addition, the Eagles converted on 70-percent of their free throw attempts, while the Cougars converted 64.3-percent of their attempts from the charity stripe.
The Eagles controlled the glass, outrebounding Columbia College 45-33.
CMU begins conference action with a road matchup against Clarke University Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa.
#TakeFlight
