Columbia College Wins AMC Postseason Tournament Title

In a vote by league coaches, Matt Laur, a 6-11 center for the McKendree College Bearcats, is the 2000-01 AMC Most Valuable Player. Laur, a native of Kinmundy, Ill., averaged 20.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in his sophomore campaign at McKendree. In addition, he recorded one of the top shooting percentages in the NAIA, connecting on 66 percent of his shot attempts from the field.

The AMC Freshman of the Year is Tim Schumacher from McKendree College. The 6-5 forward from Highland, Ill. played in 32 games in his rookie campaign at McKendree, averaging 4.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In addition, Schumacher totaled 43 assists, 40 steals and 11 blocked shots.

The AMC Newcomer of the Year honor is presented to the top transfer student-athlete in the AMC. Mike Hendren, a 6-5 senior from Missouri Baptist College, is the 2000-01 recipient of this award. Hendren, who hails from Russellville, Ark.., averaged 19.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his first season in the league. He connected on 58 percent of his shots from the field and 75 percent of his attempts from the freethrow line.

The 2000-01 AMC Coach of the Year for men's basketball is Bob Burchard from Columbia College. In his 13^th season at the helm of the Cougar basketball program, Burchard’s club recorded an overall record of 26-3. He led the Cougars to the AMC regular-season championship with a perfect 9-0 record in league play. Burchard’s career record at Columbia College is 327-115.

A complete list of the 10-member AMC All-Conference team, the Honorable Mention squad and the Academic All-Conference team, is included below. Members of the Academic All-Conference team have earned at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Matt Laur (SO), McKendree College
Forward from Kinmundy, Ill.

Bob Burchard (13^th Year), Columbia College
26-3, 9-0 (Regular-Season)

Player

School

Pos.

Year

Hometown

Jerrod Thompson

Columbia College

Guard

SR

Mexico, MO

Sean Dooley

Columbia College

Guard

JR

Gladstone, MO

Mark Jones

Columbia College

Guard

JR

St. Louis, MO

Matt Laur

McKendree College

Center

SO

Kinmundy, IL

Darrell Flake

McKendree College

Forward

JR

Chicago, IL

Nic Stotler

McKendree College

Guard

SR

Brighton, IL

Mike Hendren

Missouri Baptist College

Forward

SR

Russellville, AR

Antonio Mason

Missouri Baptist College

Guard

JR

Oklahoma City, OK

Craig White

Missouri Baptist College

Forward

SR

Houston, TX

Brian Tanner

Williams Baptist College

Forward

JR

Blytheville, AR

Player

School

Jason Wright

Columbia College

Tim McAuliffe

Hannibal-LaGrange College

Josh Buffington

Hannibal-LaGrange College

Georg Taylor

Harris-Stowe State College

Harlon Coleman

Harris-Stowe State College

Dan Moore

McKendree College

Michael Brinkley

Williams Baptist College

Columbia College
Sean Dooley, Brad Hemmer, Justin Keen, Aaron Stone, Sam Tatiersky, Jerrod Thompson  

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Brandon Blankenship, Josh Buffington, Ryan Thompson, Pete Howard, Nick Carroz

Harris-Stowe State College
Eric Cozier, Fred Saunders

McKendree College
Keith Langenhorst, Dan Moore, Tim Schumacher, Nic Stotler

Missouri Baptist College
Ryan Oliver, Jordan Stone