Men's Basketball | 10/24/2017 12:18:00 PM
Columbia, Mo. – The NAIA national office announced today the 2017-18 Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll for the upcoming season. The Cougars, who finished last season tied for ninth in the postseason poll, came in at number seven in this year's preseason poll and are projected to finish at the top of the American Midwest Conference.
Last season, the men's basketball team finished the year with a 27-6 record on the season and a 19-3 record in conference play which earned them their 13th regular season AMC title under head coach Bob Burchard. The Cougars started the season with a 20-1 record and were ranked as high as third in the nation midway through the season. However, Columbia College cooled off late in the year and lost three of their final four games, including a first round defeat in the AMC Tournament, heading into the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The Cougars bounced back after their first round AMC Tournament loss to Missouri Baptist University and defeated Lewis-Clark State (Ida.) College in the opening round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship by a score of 71-59 before being defeated in the second round by the University of Pikesville (Ky.). Following the AMC Tournament, Bob Burchard was named the AMC Coach of the Year for the eighth time, Malik Ray was named the AMC Defensive Player of the Year, and Jackson Dubinski earned NAIA Third Team All-American honors.
The Cougars will look to have another great campaign under Bob Burchard in his 30th season at the helm as he has led Columbia College to a 746-248 record during his tenure. The Cougars return four starters including seniors Jackson Dubinski, Nic Reynolds, Hank Mathews, and Nathan Biggs. The four have plenty of experience as they have combined for 303 games played throughout their time in Columbia. Dubinski will look to carry over his success from last season into this season as the point guard averaged 11.7 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from behind the arc a season ago. Reynolds, who surpassed the 1,000 career point mark last season, averaged a team high 14.0 points per game while hitting 44.4 percent of his shots from the field and knocking down 88.8 percent of his free throws. Matthews, a transfer from Wabash Valley College, took advantage of his first season in Columbia as he made 28 starts in 33 games. He averaged 7.8 points per game and shot 46.9 percent from the field while also knocking down a team high 44.3 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Biggs, who started all 33 games last season as a junior, averaged 9.3 points and finished second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.
In addition, the Cougars also return senior Lucky Ogbomo, junior Preston Whitfield, and sophomores Adam Mennemeyer and Steven Holloway. Ogbomo appeared in 31 games for Columbia College averaging 2.3 points and 3.6 rebounds throughout the season. Whitfield, a junior guard, provided valuable minutes off the bench last season as he finished third on the team in points averaging 9.9 per contest while also averaging 2.2 rebounds per game in 33 appearances last season. Adam Mennemeyer appeared in 26 games for Columbia College last season averaging 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds while Steven Holloway appeared in 29 games for the Cougars averaging 1.9 points and 0.93 assists per game.
To go along with eight returners from last year's squad, Columbia College also added five newcomers including freshman Rico Sylvester (Belleville East High School), sophomore Alex Moore (Drury University), junior Jalen Olds (North Arkansas College), junior Malcolm Reed (Kishwaukee College), and junior Darrick Ellis (Kaskaskia College).
The Cougars will open their season on Friday, November 3rd when they play host to Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University as a part of the 2017 Cougars vs. Cancer Tip-Off Classic Presented by Cost Cutters. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. at the Southwell Athletic Complex.
