Columbia wins AMC tournament title,
earns league’s national tournament bid

Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College men’s basketball team earned an automatic berth into the NAIA Division I Men’s National Tournament tonight, defeating 79-65 in the championship game of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) postseason tournament. Columbia will compete in the NAIA's 32-team national tournament as the AMC’s automatic qualifier on March 24-30 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

In addition, in a vote by league coaches, Columbia College guard Khamari Ballard has been named the league’s most valuable player for 2003-04. The 6’0” senior from Jackson, Miss., who was last year’s AMC Newcomer of the Year, led the Cougars in scoring this season, posting 21.8 points per game. He played in all 32 regular season contests and shot 47 percent from the field, dropping in 203 field goals in 428 attempts.

In addition, Ballard was 98-for-232 from beyond the three-point arc for 42 percent and 70-for-85 from the freethrow line for 82 percent. He was second in the AMC in steals, swiping 2.4 a game. He also passed out 86 assists and corralled 107 rebounds.

The AMC Freshman of the Year is Mike Strobbe from McKendree College. Strobbe, who is a native of Ferguson, Ill., served as the sixth man for the Bearcats this season. The 6’7” forward posted ten double-doubles in points and rebounds during the regular season and averaged 11.9 points and 8.4 boards in 31 games. He shot 57 percent from the field, converting 136 field goals in 239 attempts.

The AMC Newcomer of the Year honor is presented to the top transfer student in the AMC. Jason Kaplan, a 6’8” center from Rock Falls, Ill., is the 2003-04 recipient of this award. Kaplan scored 491 points in his first season as a Spartan, averaging 16.4 points a game. He also averaged double figures in rebounds, gathering 10.3 boards a contest. Kaplan shot 58 percent from the field and 72 percent from the freethrow line, in addition to totaling 48 blocked shots and 54 assists.

The AMC Coach of the Year is Tony Tompkins from Missouri Baptist University. Tompkins, who is in his second season at the helm of the Spartan program, led Missouri Baptist to a share of the regular season conference title with a mark of 10-2. In his two seasons at Missouri Baptist, Tompkins has totaled a 48 wins and just 13 losses. His Spartans are ranked No. 16 in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll.

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.

Columbia College
Craig Bryan, Aaron Edwards, Brad Hemmer, Andreas Jakobsen, Nahowan Saxon, Ryan Steinhoff

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Kyle Hannel, Vladimir Kulic’, Brett Reading, Scott Speer

Harris-Stowe State College
Marlos Reynolds

University of Illinois at Springfield
Joe Dulin, Michael Griffin

McKendree College
Matt Koerber, Pete Krumsieg, Anthony McNeill, Tim Schumacher

Missouri Baptist University
Noll Billings, Joe Rothweiler, Jesse Reece

Williams Baptist College
Matt Mills