The Kansas Wesleyan men gave the 22nd-ranked team in the NAIA all it could handle for 32 minutes.
The Coyotes led Columbia (Mo.) 54-53 with 8 minutes left in the game but the Cougars responded with nine consecutive points and pulled away for an 81-70 non-conference victory Tuesday night inside Mabee Arena.
KWU led 32-30 at halftime and was up 45-42 with 14:44 remaining. Braylin Goins' basket with 7:59 left gave the Coyotes their final lead before Columbia (18-2) took over. Max Regier fueled the 9-0 burst with seven consecutive points.
Gabe Phillips' field goal with 4:33 left cut the deficit to 64-59, but Columbia scored nine of the next 12 points and led 73-62 with 3:12 remaining. The Coyotes couldn't get closer than eight (73-65) the rest of the way.
"We let them start getting to the rim a little bit more, especially (Caleb Jones)," KWU coach Jordan Murdock said on the postgame radio show. "That was something that we talked about. He's a special talent, he can get to the rim, he can finish through a lot of stuff."
Jones led five Cougars in double figure with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He scored 14 in the second half.
Murdock was not unhappy with his team's effort though.
"I thought we battled the number 22 team in the nation," he said. "Honestly, in my opinion I think they're a lot better than number 22 and we were there for the majority of the game."
KWU shot 27 of 59 from the field (42 percent) including 9 of 25 from 3-point range. Caiden Punt scored a team-high 17 - 14 in the second half - and grabbed seven rebounds. Evens Appolon finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks, Brandon Avedon had nine points, four rebounds and four assists and Jayden Hall eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
"In the first half I thought they did a really good job (on Punt) but also at the same time I thought he wasn't as aggressive," Murdock said. "That's one thing we did at halftime, we challenged him and he answered the call. But we need other people to step up in that area too."
Turnovers were a problem - 21 that led to 21 Columbia points. The Cougars had 12 turnovers that resulted in 14 KWU points.
"At the end of the day, that's the name of the game," Murdock said. "They had 21 points off our turnovers, so we've got to clean that up. I'll take the blame for that one, but we'll get better."
Columbia shot 46 percent (27 of 59) but sizzled in the second half at 58 percent (19 of 33). The Cougars entered the game averaging 28 3-point attempts per game and shot 22 but made only two.