St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 18-ranked Columbia College men's basketball team claimed the outright American Midwest Conference (AMC) Championship with an 84-60 win at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy on Saturday in St. Louis.
 
The AMC title for the Cougars is the first since 2022-23 and 16^th in program history.
 
Columbia won its sixth-straight game to improve to 25-3 and 13-1 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), while UHSP lost its fourth-straight contest and fell to 5-22 overall and 2-12 in AMC play.
 
Johnny Anderson (18 points, nine rebounds) and Jemeal Goines (17 points, nine rebounds) led the Cougars in scoring, while Max Rieger added 10 points and a career-high seven assists. Columbia shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the field and dominated the glass 41-24.
 
The Cougars set the tone early with a 9-2 run, fueled by a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Anderson. Jace Eskew and Anderson later knocked down threes during an 8-0 surge that pushed the lead to 24-9 with 8:00 remaining in the half.
 
A dunk by Goines with 2:59 left extended the advantage to 32-17, and Columbia carried a 37-22 lead into the break in a defensive-minded first half. 
 
Anderson and Goines paced the Cougars with eight points each as Columbia limited UHSP to 32.0 percent shooting (8-of-25), controlled the boards 21-12, and collected eight steals.
 
Back-to-back corner threes from Anderson pushed the advantage to 53-29 with 16:27 left. The Eutectics got the lead down to 17 (63-46) with less than 10 minutes to play, but the Cougars put the game out of reach with a 7-0 run highlighted by a three-point play by Goines.
 
Landon Engelage (17 points) and Brennen Walker (10) scored in double figures for UHSP, which hit 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from three-point range in the loss.
 
The Cougars open play in the 2026 AMC Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 26 in Springfield, Mo., against an opponent to be determined . Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m.
 
NOTES: Columbia has won 12-straight games against UHSP and leads the all-time series 23-2 … The Cougars have won 25 or more games for the first time since the 2017-18 season and for the 21^st time in program history.