Simpson improves to 16-5 with road win
Southern Sports & Travel
The sixth ranked Simpson Cougars got all they wanted from Columbia for three quarters last night but managed to pull away in the fourth quarter behind Austin Douglas and Garrett Taylor’s combined 27 points to get a 63-51 road win and improve to 16-5 on the season.

Columbia took a 2-0 lead on Logan Cooke’s 12 foot jumper but Simpson would control much of the opening quarter as they put together a 10-2 run with 6’8” junior Bubba Edmundson accounting for six points in the paint to take a 14-4 lead with just over a minute left. Brooks Robinson’s 3-pointer from the top of the key would cut the Simpson margin in half at 14-7 to end the opening quarter of play.

Simpson jumped out to a 21-9 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter. Nate Ashley and Walt Prince nailed 3-pointers to spur a 7-2 run and Simpson appeared to be in full control in a physical first half that included 34 free throws between both teams but Columbia got the hot hand and climbed back into the game.

Following two free throws from Columbia’s Kyle Smith, Alex Price canned a 3-pointer from the wing at the 5:49 mark to cut the deficit to 21-14 and Price hit another 3-pointer following a Kalin McKenzie free throw to pull Columbia to within three points at 21-18.

(Above) Simpson's Austin Douglas (#34) had 14 fourth quarter points

PJ Hammond’s steal and lay-in at the 5:10 mark finished off an 11-0 Columbia run and narrowed Simpson’s lead to just one point at 21-20.

Simpson was unable to shake Columbia but maintained a lead until late in the half when a Kalin McKenzie baseline drive knotted the contest at 26-26 with 36 seconds remaining.

Columbia grabbed their first lead since 2-0 on two Brandon Bell free throws with 4 seconds left to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.

Columbia got off fast to start the third quarter as Alex Price hit another 3-pointer to give CA their biggest lead at 32-28 but Simpson ran off five straight points to retake the lead at 33-32 with 5:18 remaining in the quarter.

Columbia answered back with a Brandon Bell 15 foot jumper and an Alex Price lay-in off a Simpson turnover to go up 36-33 but baskets would come at a premium for Columbia over the next four minutes of the quarter.

Walt Prince drained a long 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 36-36 and a floater in the lane from Simpson’s Josh Hankins gave the Cougars a 38-36 lead.

Simpson quickly pushed their lead to 42-36 as Tyler King served up an assist to Hankins and Andrew Berry pulled down an offensive rebound and scored with 2:59 left in the quarter.

Simpson increased their lead to eight points at 46-38 on two Garrett Taylor free throws but Columbia stayed close as Alex Price hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to close the quarter down by five points at 46-41.

(Above) Columbia's Alex Price (#10) led all scorers with 15 points

Columbia got to within three points at 46-43 to start the final quarter as a Brooks Robinson transition bucket got the home crowd fired up but Simpson responded with a 10-0 run fueled by Austin Douglas who scored eight of those points and notched an assist on the other basket to propel Simpson to a 56-43 advantage with 3:15 remaining in the contest.

After Columbia’s Adam Ham hit a 3-pointer Simpson reeled off six straight points to take their biggest lead of the night at 62-46 with just over one minute remaining en-route to the 63-51 win.

Austin Douglas led Simpson with 14 points, Garrett Taylor had 13, Bubba Edmundson 8, Tyler King and Nate Ashley 7 each, Josh Hankins 6, Walt Prince and Andrew Berry 3 apiece and Joshua Broadhead 2.

Columbia (9-12) was led by Alex Price with 15 points, Brandon Bell 10, Kalin McKenzie 6, Brooks Robinson 5, Garrett Magee and Adam Ham 3 each, Kyle Smith, Logan Cooke and PJ Hammond each had 2 and Josh Broom 1.

Simpson will travel to Copiah Thursday while Columbia will host Adams Christian in District 5-AA action tonight.
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