And in turn the Trojans threw their bodies at the ball and did everything they could to win with their season and slim NAIA tournament hopes on the line.

But it was the deep Columbia College bench and continued excellent shooting from senior Jerrod Thompson that helped the No. 1 seed Cougars prevail in the 69-55 American Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal win over the No. 5 seed Trojans.

The winning margin was deceiving. The Cougars could not pull away from Hannibal-LaGrange’s offensive attack until the final three minutes of the game.

The Trojans could not match the skill level of the Cougars, but made up for it in sheer determination and grit.

The Trojans were battling hard for rebounds, put a full court press that gave Cougar ball handlers trouble at times and dove for loose balls. Their tactics worked for the majority of the first half as the game saw six lead changes before halftime.

But Columbia College, ranked No. 5 in the NAIA, went on a key 10-0 run to close the half with a 36-28 lead, killing the Trojans’ momentum.

"It was a fun game," said Thompson, the only Cougar in double-figures with a game-high 32 points.

"It was really intense with everybody getting on the floor fighting with each other down there. No one wanted to lose. Both teams were playing hard and we did what we had to do in order to win."

Thompson was on fire throughout the night, shooting 10 of 17 from the field, going 4 of 10 from 3-point range and hitting 8 of 9 free throws. He scored the game’s first six points by hitting two straight 3s.

The Trojans played a lax zone defense on the perimeter and Thompson responded by hitting 3-pointers from way beyond NBA range.

"I told the guys before the game that there would be a window of error that we could screw up and win the game," said Hannibal-LaGrange coach Mark Sanders, whose Trojans were led by guard Jack Howard with 22 points, including six 3-pointers.

"We made too many mistakes on offense, on defense, we allowed Jerrod Thompson to have the game of his life and that killed us."

But other Cougar shooters struggled, going 2 for 10 from the 3-point line and 13 of 41 from the field.

Starting point guard Mark Jones had a poor shooting performance, going 1 of 8 from the field.

Derek Broadus spelled Jones and finished with six points, two steals and three rebounds in 16 minutes.

Forward Scott Brewster also did a nice job off the bench, scoring six points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

"Derek is a great competitor," said Cougar coach Bob Burchard. "And he made a couple of plays that were remarkable. That was a game-turner. Scott did some things out there that aren’t always going to appear on the stat sheet.

"I think this was a typical Columbia College game. We played a ton of guys and found out who was doing the best for us and let ‘em ride.

"That’s the strength of this team. I hope that I’m smart enough to always go down the list and give everyone a chance, and we kind of did that."

The Cougars go on to face McKendree College in the AMC Championship game at Southwell Gymnasium, a rematch of last season’s title tilt.

The No. 3 seed Bobcats defeated No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist 77-53 in the other AMC semifinal Thursday. Center Matt Laur’s 22 points and nine rebounds led McKendree.