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Cougars claw "Cats in thriller
Jones outdules McKendree's standout as Columbia remains perfect in AMC

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Story ran on Sunday, February 4, 2001

Kenny Moore has seen these tight battles against conference foe McKendree College all too often in his two years as the point guard at Columbia College. It was only fitting that in his first game back after graduating he witnessed another game that went down to the final shot with the No. 6 Cougars coming out on top 79-76 last night.

Columbia College coach Bob Buchard voices his opinion of a call in last night's win over McKendree. Mark Schiefelbein photo

"This is what it’s all about," said Moore, now an insurance claims analyst. "It seems like they don’t need me anymore the way they played out there today."

Moore’s replacement at the point, Mark Jones, had a breakthrough performance leading the Cougars (22-2, 6-0 American Midwest Conference) with 25 points. He was involved in a shootout with Bearcat center and NAIA all-American candidate Matt Laur , who had a game-high 26.

"I was feeling it tonight," Jones said. "I just tried to stay focused and keep shooting. Coach kept saying to take it at Laur because he’s going to get tired on the defensive end. Our team has so many weapons you never know what to expect."

One of the unexpected offensive outputs came from 6-foot-9 Cougar center Aaron Stone, who scored eight of his team’s first 10 points and finished with 17 points while being guarded by the imposing 6-11 Laur.

"It was tough going against this guy," said Stone. "He was shoving and pushing, using his weight around but I think I held my ground."

The game had 13 lead changes, nine ties and not surprisingly went down to one final shot.

After a Cougar turnover with 1:31 remaining, McKendree guard Nic Stotler hit a fall-away jump shot to make it 77-76 Columbia College with 1:21 left. The Cougars missed a shot on their next possession but No. 23 McKendree (20-5, 3-3 AMC) couldn’t capitalize as Jones intercepted a Bearcat pass with 42 seconds to go.

Columbia College post player Aaron Stone powers his way to the basket over McKendree's Dan Moore en route to his 17-point effort. Mark Schiefelbeing photo

Senior guard Jerrod Thompson, who finished with 23 points, sank two free throws to make it 79-76 with 17.5 seconds remaining.

Cougar coach Bob Burchard went to a zone defense, expecting Stotler, who scored 17 points, to get the final shot. After a pass to the inside, guard Keith Langenhorst missed a last-second 3-point attempt from the corner.

"We were in a major debate on whether go to man or play zone," Burchard said. "I wanted to foul them on that last possession and I wish I had. I knewStotler would shoot the ball if he got it and I didn’t want to give him an opportunity to shoot."

Columbia College shot 60.4 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from the 3-point arc and 72.7 percent from the foul line. McKendree shot 52.9 percent, 80 percent and 68 percent in those respective categories.

"Those are incredible statistics," said Burchard. "It’s those kind of percentages that made this such a great game. There was a playoff atmosphere tonight and I think this may be a preview of the playoffs."