After winning yesterday the Columbia International University Men's Basketball team took on host Grace College in the fifth place game of the NCCAA National Championship. The Rams and Lancers were engaged in a battle all game as the team were evenly matched. However, a big halftime lead allowed the Lancers to hold onto a 96-88 victory over the Rams. This season will go down as the most successful in the history of the program as the Rams secured the most wins in program history and reached the tournament for the first time ever.

1st Half Highlights:

• The Lancers would score the games first points, but on the Rams next possession Corey Benton found Jeff McIlwain for the basket
• After two free throws the Rams tied the game once again with a basket by Arthur Pearson in the paint
• The Rams would continue to keep the game close, but were unable to gain the lead
• The Lancers would take a double digit over a five minute span
• The Rams would trim the lead to eleven off a three by Eric Graham with seven and a half minutes left in the half
• The Lancers would go on a 14-4 run to take a 21 point advantage with three minutes in the half
• The Rams continue to chip away at the Lancers lead and were only down 56-41 after a three by Graham

2nd Half Highlights:

• The Rams started out the second half with the first four points by Graham and Kyren Bolden
• The Lancers would go onto score the next six points, but a jumper by McIlwain got the Rams back on the board
• The Rams and Lancers would trade baskets back and forth as the Rams tried to pull closer
• With just over twelve minutes left in the game the Rams pulled back within single digits on a layup by Pearson
• The Rams were back within seven on a layup by Brandon Doss
• The Lancers would race out to another double digit lead as the time continued to tick on the Rams comeback opportunity
• The Rams and Lancers went back and forth once again, but the Lancers continued to hold onto a double digit lead
• A layup by Graham with thirteen seconds left pulled the Rams within nine, 94-85
• After two Lancer free throws a three by Pearson in the final seconds gave the final score of 96-88

Box Score Highlights:

• The Rams shot 45.9% (34-of-74) from the field and were 6-of-19 from beyond the arc...The Lancer shot 50.8% for the game and were 26-of-29 from the charity stripe...The Rams and Lancers were even in the paint as each team scored over fifty points in the paint...The Rams forced the Lancers into 13 turnovers, while they only committed 5...Arthur Pearson led the Rams with 21 points and chipped in with three rebounds...Eric Graham had 19 points and four rebounds...Tajae Anderson had 13 points and five rebounds off the bench...Jeff McIlwain had 12 points and five rebounds...Charlie Warner led the Lancers with 27 points and had eight rebounds

Season Highlights: The Rams close out the season with 18 wins which is a program record...The Rams reached the NCCAA National Championships for the first time ever...The Rams averaged 81 points per game which is also a program record...The Rams also hit 9.4 threes a game and averaged 38.3 rebounds a game.  The Rams will welcome back almost the whole team as they look to make a deep playoff run.