By Eric Montgomery | NAIA Media Coordinator

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box Score) No. 2-seeded Columbia (Mo.) turned around a 15-point deficit to claim a 71-59 first round win over seventh-seeded Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Thursday afternoon in the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium. The Cougars will play No. 3-seeded Pikeville (Ky.), a 79-62 winner over Grand View (Iowa), in a second round game on Friday, March 17 at 5:45 p.m. CST

Nic Reynolds led all scorers with 26 points to couple with four rebounds and two steals for Columbia (27-5), while Jesse Brown posted 12 points and seven rebounds. Nathan Biggs and Jackson Dubinski each added eight points and combined for 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

"I didn't even realize we'd gotten down by 15 points in the second half,” said Columbia head coach Bob Burchard. “We're a very intelligent and experienced team, so I knew we could come back. We didn't show any panic. I thought we were off-balance offensively in the first half and it really hurt us."

Columbia held a 22-21 lead with 6:22 left in the first half, but Lewis-Clark State outscored the Cougars by a 12-3 ledger the rest of the half to claim an eight-point halftime cushion. David Shedrick hit a three-pointer with 1:23 left and Derrick White scored just before time expired after a steal by Trea Thomas.

The eight-point lead for the Warriors nearly doubled in the opening moments of the second half as Doug McDaniel scored six-straight points for a 44-29 lead with 16:48 to play. However, the Cougars would turn the game around with the use of a zone defense the rest of the way.

Columbia scored the next 15 points to bring the teams even at the 10:34 mark and grabbed a 55-54 lead after two free throws by Reynolds with 6:36 remaining. The Cougars would maintain the lead the rest of the way, limiting the Warriors to four field goals in the final 8:00.

The three-point line proved to be the undoing for Lewis-Clark State, making 3-of-28 (.107) from downtown in the second half and 7-of-45 (.156) overall in the game. Columbia made just two treys per half, but shot 13-of-22 (.591) in the second half that included 11-of-15 from two-point range.

“The last game of the season is never fun when it ends this way," said Lewis-Clark State head coach Brandon Rinta. “I told the guys I was proud of them. A lot of people doubted this team heading into the season after losing the guys we did from the previous year. Even though we lost at times through the season, the guys kept believing in each other."

McDaniel was the only Warriors player to register double figures, tallying 21 points, three rebounds and three assists. Zavon Jackson pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds, while White finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Lewis-Clark State finished its season with a record of 23-11.

Game Notes:
Columbia – The Cougars made their seventh-consecutive and ninth appearance overall in 10 years… It is the 21stoverall national championship appearance – all of which have been played under head coach Bob Burchard… The Cougars improved to 9-12 in the first round and 13-20 overall… The Cougars entered the tournament dropping three out of the last four games, earning the bid as the American Midwest Regular Season Champion…With 27 wins on the season, Columbia has won at least 26 games in seven-straight seasons…Over the past five seasons, the Cougars are 149-22, good for the best record in NAIA Division I – William Penn is second with 137 wins over that same span… Since 2009, the Cougars have had eight tournament appearances with six Round of 16 appearances, two quarterfinal appearances and one championship game appearance… Prior to 2008, the Cougars only reached the Round of 16 three times in their first 13 tries…The Cougars are 4-2 against teams who are part of this season’s championship field … Columbia entered Thursday’s contest ranked fifth in the NAIA in defensive field goal percentage (0.399), holding Lewis-Clarke State to a 0.319 clip… Nic Reynolds reached double-figures for the sixth consecutive game … Jesse Brown reached double-digits for the just the fifth time this season

Lewis-Clark State – The Warriors have appeared in three-straight national championships and own a 3-9 record all-time in first round games … Lewis-Clark State has not advanced past the second round in any of its 12 appearances … The Warriors recorded at least 22 wins for the fifth-straight campaign … Lewis-Clark State entered the contest shooting 35.8 percent on the season from three-point range, but was held to a 15.5 percent clip.

General Game Notes
Columbia is one of three teams in the national championship from the American Midwest Conference, which currently owns a record of 1-1…Columbia has moved into the Round of 16 for the fifth time in six years … The higher-seeded teams are now 10-2 in the first 12 games of this season’s national championship … This marked the sixth game thus far decided by 10 or more points.