Men’s Basketball
• Conway, Feb. 20 — Playing their final regular season game at home, #18 CBC hosted the Columbia Cougars (CC), aiming to clinch at least a share of their second consecutive American Midwest Conference (AMC) regular season title. CBC (24-4, 17-1 AMC) accomplished their goal, racing to a 19-point halftime lead before cruising to a 97-76 victory over CC (20-7, 13-4 AMC), securing at least a share of the AMC regular season crown, pending the outcome of the William Woods-Mission University contest on Saturday. Wade Williams led five Mustangs in double figures with 23 points, while Jonas Carlisle and Sage Borbon each added 16, Gabe Johnson contributed 14 and Savaughn Smith finished with 11. CBC shot 54% from the field, made 12 three-pointers and forced Columbia into 17 turnovers, converting those into 30 points.
Women’s Basketball
• Conway, Feb. 20 — Kicking off their final two-game stretch of the regular season at home, CBC hosted the Cougars of Columbia College (CC) at A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse, needing a win to improve their standing in the AMC. CBC (10-15, 8-13 AMC) struggled to contain the explosive Columbia (24-3, 18-3 AMC) offense, resulting in an 88-59 loss, which dropped them to the eight-seed in next week’s AMC Tournament. Addison Hudspeth led the way with 16 points for CBC, while both Aliya Grotjohn and Riley Whittington contributed 10 points each. CBC held an early one-point lead in the first quarter before CC surged with a 9-0 run, sealing the game in their favor.
• Conway, Feb. 22 — In their final home game of the season, CBC faced the Stephens Stars in an AMC matchup at Reddin Fieldhouse. CBC (10-16, 8-14 AMC) struggled against the size of Stephens (20-8, 17-5 AMC), falling behind by 16 points at halftime before ultimately losing 76-45. Aliya Grotjohn was the leading scorer for the Mustangs with 17 points, and Raigan Head recorded a team-high 14 rebounds. Although CBC never led, they matched Stephens at the free throw line, going 10-for-10, and outrebounded their taller opponents 41-37. The Lady Mustangs will enter next week’s AMC Tournament as the eighth seed in Walnut Ridge, where they will take on the top-seeded Williams Baptist Eagles on Feb. 28 in the quarterfinals, with tipoff set for 5:15 p.m. at the Southerland Mabee Center.
Baseball
• Hot Springs, Feb. 23 — Opening AMC play two days after the originally scheduled date, CBC hosted the UHSP Eutectics at Majestic Park in a doubleheader. CBC (4-8, 2-0 AMC) took both ends of the doubleheader by scores of 3-2 and 6-2 over UHSP (3-6, 0-2 AMC).
• Hot Springs, Feb. 24 — After taking the first two games of their four-game AMC series at Majestic Park, CBC looked to finish the four-game sweep of the UHSP Eutectics. CBC (6-8, 4-0 AMC) finished the job, winning on a walk-off error in game one before closing the sweep out with a five-run win in game two.
• St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 24 — Two players have been named AMC Athletes of the Week. Josh Albat was recognized as the baseball pitcher of the week after pitching a complete game on Feb. 23, allowing just five hits and two runs (1 earned) while recording a season-high 11 strikeouts in game one of CBC’s series against UHSP. Julian Rodriguez earned Player of the Week honors by batting .333 over three games last week — one against Champion Christian and two against UHSP. He had a double, three RBIs, and a run scored, hitting safely in all three games.
Softball
• Tuscaloosa, Ala., Feb. 21 — Diverting from their originally scheduled trip to Branson, Mo., CBC took on Stillman College (SC) in a doubleheader at the Stillman Softball Complex. CBC (3-11) was swept in the doubleheader by SC (7-5), dropping game one 9-8 in a walkoff before falling 10-3 in game two.
• Tuscaloosa, Ala., Feb. 22 — Trying to salvage a game from the four games in Alabama, CBC took on the United States Sports Academy and Stillman at the Stillman Softball Complex. CBC (4-12) took the game with USSA (2-7) 2-1 before dropping the Stillman (9-5) contest 13-5.
• St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 24 — Kinley Johnson was named Softball Player of the Week for the second time. She batted .385 in four games over the weekend in Alabama. She hit her seventh home run of the season and drove in seven runs in three games against Stillman and one against the United States Sports Academy.
Wrestling
• Oklahoma City, Okla., Feb. 22 — On the mat for the final time this season, CBC was at Abe Lemons Arena for the AMC/Sooner Athletic Conference championship. Isaiah Hendrix, competing at 157 pounds, would go 0-2. Alfredo Zapata, competing at 165 pounds, placed fourth after winning by forfeit, decision and major decision, with losses by fall and major decision in between. Jordan Allen-Smith, competing at 197 pounds, finished fifth, with his only victory coming by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match. Juan Luis-Tapia’s matches in the heavyweight class were all decided by fall as he secured fifth place in the 285-pound class.
