COLUMBIA - CIU men's basketball moved closer to yet another 20-win season on Wednesday evening as the Rams dispatched Columbia College (S.C.) 84-61. The Rams win the season series with the Koalas in Columbia's first season competing in men's basketball. CIU is now 18-4 overall, 13-4 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

The lead changed hands multiple times in the game's early going, but as things moved closer to halftime, the Rams widened the gap, going up 28-20 (6:15) on a Christian Howard finish. By the game's intermission, CIU led by double digits, with a Jaylon Jeter triple putting CIU up 41-22 at the break.

The Rams led by as much as 77-47 after a Will Kelly 3-pointer with 5:09 remaining in the contest. The 30-point difference was CIU's largest advantage of the evening as the Koalas showed some life late to trim the deficit to 17 by the time the final buzzer sounded.

The NAIA's reigning Offensive Player of the Week, Kelly remained hot, scoring 23 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep while going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.

Jeffrey Clark, II came off the bench, only missing one shot while scoring 16 points and recording nine rebounds. Chrisitan Howard was the third CIU player in double-figures with 13 points as the Rams saw ten different players score on Wednesday.

Up Next: CIU will look to avenge a loss to Bryan College (Tenn.) as they travel to Dayton on Saturday, Feb. 12 to take on the Lions at 4:00 p.m. ET.