McKendree College earns berth into NAIA National Tournament

Columbia, Mo. – The men’s basketball team earned an automatic berth into the NAIA Division I Men’s National Tournament tonight, defeating Columbia College 81-59 in the championship game of the American Midwest Conference postseason tournament. McKendree will compete in the NAIA's 32-team national tournament as the AMC’s automatic qualifier on March 26 – April 1 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. Columbia will receive an at-large berth into the tournament based on its rating in the national poll.

In addition, in a vote by league coaches, Matt Laur has been named the AMC Player of the Year. It is the second time Laur has been honored with the award. The 6’11” center was named the league’s MVP as a sophomore in 2000-01. Laur also earned freshman of the year accolades in 1999-2000.

Laur led the AMC in scoring and rebounding during the regular season and currently ranks among the top five in NAIA Division I in rebounding, scoring and field goal percentage. He averaged 23.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game during the regular season and dropped in 63 percent of his field goal attempts. The Kinmundy, Ill. native also tallied 4.6 blocks and 3.2 assists in his final campaign as a Bearcat.

The AMC Freshman of the Year is Ashley Ukah from Missouri Baptist University. Ukah hails from Jefferson City, Mo. and netted 14.9 points in his rookie season, placing him fifth among AMC scorers. The 6’0” guard shot 49 percent from the field, in addition to swiping 2.2 steals and corralling 4.3 rebounds an outing.

The AMC Newcomer of the Year honor is presented to the top transfer student in the AMC. Khamari Ballard, a 6’0” junior guard from Columbia College is the 2002-03 recipient of this award. Ballard led the Cougars in scoring in his first season, averaging 16.5 points per game. He shot 48 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the three-point arc during the regular season, ranking him third among the AMC’s long range shooters. Ballard, who hails from Jackson, Miss., also averaged 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists.

For the second consecutive season, the AMC Coach of the Year is Harry Statham from McKendree College. Statham, who is in his 37^th season at McKendree, led the Bearcats to a perfect 10-0 record in the AMC regular season. The Bearcats are currently ranked No. 2 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll. Statham holds a career record of 842-323 (.723), placing him third on the all-time list of four-year coaches, trailing only Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp.

A complete list of the 10-member AMC All-Conference team, the honorable mention squad and the academic all-conference team, is included on the following pages. Members of the academic all-conference team have earned at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Columbia College
Andre Amos, Adam Coulibaly, Brad Hemmer, Justin Keen, Jacob Mohnke, Nahowan Saxon, Aaron Stone, Joe Thompson

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Pete Howard, Vladimir Kulic, Jonathan Mueller, Brett Reading, Scott Speer

McKendree College
Eric Echelbarger, Matt Koerber, Matt Laur, Tim Schumacher, Chad Storck

Missouri Baptist University
Jordan Stone

Williams Baptist College
Matt Mills