Men's Basketball Makes History with 78-76 Win

COLUMBIA, SC - A Win! a thrilling win! That is how the Columbia College men's basketball team made history Thursday night. The Koala men won a heartpounding 78-76 thriller over visiting Spartanburg Methodist from a sold out and raucous Godbold Center crowd.

The first-ever basket in school history was an exciting dunk from junior wing Chandler O'Bannon on an assist from junior point guard AJ Vaught in the first seven seconds of action that brought the standing-room only crowd to its feet. The final basket of the game was the game-winning basket as senior guard Kendall Brasfield putback a layup for the 2-point win.

Vaught led the team with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists as he flirted with a triple-double while shooting 6 of 9 from the field. He led a quartet of Koalas in double-figure scoring as junior forward Nakia Johnson, Brasfield, and O'Bannon all scored at least 10 points. Johnson poured in 14 points with 9 rebounds, a steal, and a block while Brasfield added 13 points, 7 rebounds and a block. O'Bannon scored 10 with 4 assists while junior forward Thomas Whitley had 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Shooting guards Tae Burton and Mac Washington combined for 11 points and three 3-pointers, 7 rebounds and two assists as the Koalas shot 49 percent overall for the game, 31 percent from three and 82 percent from the free throw line. Columbia out-rebounded the Pioneers 46-33 while SMC shot 40.5 percent from the floor.

Columbia got out to a 16-8 and 29-18 leads in the first half before taking a 41-36 advantage into the locker room. CC then added to their lead in the early parts of the second half increasing their lead to its largest point of the contest at 58-40 in the 14:00 mark of the game. CC also led 67-53 with 7 minutes to play before SMC went on a 23-9 run to tie the game at 76 with 40 seconds to play. However, Brasfield's game-winning layup with 4 seconds to go will live in basketball lore forever in Columbia College basketball history.

The 1-0 Koalas and head coach Jake Deer will next remain home to host Bob Jones University on Saturday at 4:00 pm from Porter Gymnasium.