 Sports News Search Classifieds Cougars cut down nets
March 5, 2000 
The No. 2 Cougars (26-7) won their second straight American Midwest Conference championship Friday and their third in four years, this time on the road against No. 1 McKendree 72-61 in front of a stunned crowd at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The win also gives the Cougars an automatic bid to the NAIA Division I National Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., March 14-20. What was most surprising was that in a night that featured six All-AMC players, it was a seldom-used freshman who provided the game’s most memorable performance. Jason Wright, who had only 85 minutes of playing time entering the game, took advantage of the rare chance to play. Wright’s opportunity came because of early foul trouble by the Cougar front line that tried to contain the Bearcats’ 6-foot-11 duo of Ronald VanVelzen and AMC Freshman of the Year Matt Laur. With 14:15 left in the first half and McKendree (25-7) out to an early 11-6 lead, the 6-foot-6 Wright made his presence known. The forward blew by his defender and hit a tough running jumper in front of the McKendree big men. “I was really nervous since this was a championship game,” said Wright, who finished with 10 points, one shy of his career-high. “But I really wanted this one bad.” That was only the beginning. Wright did effective job boxing out the taller McKendree post players and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. “He’s making me look like an awfully stupid coach, isn’t he?” Cougar coach Bob Burchard joked. “My answer to that is that we’ve been resting him for 30-plus games. What a performance, he was fabulous.” In a game of big men, size didn’t matter this time. The quicker Columbia College lineup outhustled, outdefended, outplayed and outrebounded McKendree 45-27. “That was a big factor for them tonight,” said Bearcat coach Harry Statham, the AMC Coach of the Year. “That allowed them to get second and third opportunities at the basket. That really killed us.” The game was tense and close throughout until the Cougars pulled away in the final seconds. Fans were at the edge of their seats for most of the night. At halftime, the score was 35-33, and the teams exchanged baskets throughout the game. The Bearcats led by as many as seven points, and the Cougars led by as many as 14 until McKendree cut into the lead with three minutes remaining. Jerrod Thompson, an All-AMC selection, led the Cougars on the offensive end with a game-high 17 points despite being heavily guarded by McKendree. “I had to work hard for everything I got,” Thompson said. “They wouldn’t let me get open.” The same could be said about the Cougar defense. After matching up man-to-man in the first half, Columbia College went to its suffocating zone defense which limited the productivity of the Bearcat guards, especially AMC Newcomer of the Year Nic Stotler, who was held to 10 points. Laur was limited to 15 points and seven rebounds and missed four free throws in critical stages of the game. “We couldn’t get the offense if it weren’t for our defensive intensity,” said Cougar All-AMC selection Lawrence Thomas, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds. “That’s what won the game for us.” The win avenges the Cougars’ last conference loss, which came at McKendree two weeks ago, 61-60, on a last-second improbable reverse layup by Stotler. “It’s a little more special when you upset a team on their court,” Thomas said. “Anytime you play your heart out and lay it out on the line, it’s all the more sweet.”
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