The Thunder women's and men's basketball team both traveled to Ankeny, Iowa to compete in the Faith Classic at Faith Baptist Bible College. Each team would play three games. The women would open up with Trinity Bible College on Thursday morning. The Lady Thunder would take a 19-16 lead after the first quarter forcing eight Lion turnovers and going 6-6 from the free throw line. Trinity Bible would outscore the Lady Thunder by six in the second quarter to take a 34-31 lead into the half. The Lions would have a big third quarter to extend their lead by 14 headed into the fourth. The Lady Thunder would be behind as much as 19 in the fourth, and would battle back to cut the Lion lead to four with 26 seconds left, but end up falling, 73-67. Freshman, Jasmine Holloway would lead the Lady Thunder with 19 points on 5-10 shooting from the three-point line, while Nekayla Williams and Mackenzie Lovett would both have double-doubles. The Lady Thunder would shoot 33.3% from the field, 26.5% from the three-point line, and 63.6% from the free throw line. On Friday morning, the Lady Thunder would play Southwestern Community College (IA). Another strong start to the game for the Lady Thunder would put them ahead 17-14 after 10 minutes. Low scoring second and third quarters would give the Spartans a 30-26 lead after three quarters. A tough shooting day for the Lady Thunder would allow the Spartans to get the win, 45-37. Lovett and Elayna Wegner would each have eight points a piece. The Lady Thunder would shoot 22.6% from the field, 19.4% from the three-point line, and 50.0% from the free throw line. On Saturday, the Lady Thunder would compete against Providence University-College in their final game of the Faith Classic. The Lady Thunder had a back-and-forth battle with the Pilots as the Thunder would take a six point lead to the half. After three quarters, the Pilots cut the Lady Thunder lead to one. The Lady Thunder would dominate the fourth quarter outscoring the Pilots by nine to win their first game of the season, 76-66. Freshman, Tahlia Morris would have 17 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 3-4 from three, to go along with five rebounds. Holloway and Cortnea Wagner would each chip in with 14 points each. Sophomore, Macayla Hines would have a near triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds, and nine assists. The Lady Thunder would shoot 36.6% from the field, 40.0% from the three-point line, and 63.2% from the free throw line. After a 1-2 weekend for the Lady Thunder, their record is now 1-7.

The Lady Thunder will have their Midwest Christian College Conference opener on Friday, December 5th when they play Emmaus University at 1:00PM back at Faith Baptist Bible College.

The Thunder men's basketball was also at the Faith Classic this weekend and like the women, they would play Trinity Bible College on Thursday. The Thunder would be a back-and-forth game, but would lead at halftime 37-31. It would be much of the same in the second half as the Thunder lead for most of the half until a three by the Lions gave them a 64-63 lead with 5:47 left in the game. The Thunder would end the game on a 14-7 run to close out the Lions, 77-71. The Thunder would have four player score in double figures led by freshman, Colby Frehe would have 18 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore, Tatum Pierce would record a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaxon Hurla and Hunter Hill would each have 13 points. The Thunder would shoot 41.4% from the field, 38.9% from the three-point line, and 48.0% from the free throw line. On Friday, the Thunder would play Kuyper College. The Thunder would take control of this game from the start and would win, 90-79. Hill would have a dominate 28 point and eight rebound performance on 10-17 shooting from the field. Hurla would have 17 points while knocking down five three-pointers. The Thunder would have a great shooting day by shooting 49.2% from the field, 54.2% from the three-point line, and 72.2% from the free throw line. On Saturday, the Thunder would play their final game of the Faith Classic against Providence University-College, a first in program history. In this game, every player that would get in the game would score. Frehe would have a perfect shooting game going 7-7 from the field to score 16 points and grab nine rebounds. Sophomore, Marcus Bauman would have 11 points, while senior, Fred Criqui would have 10. The Thunder would hold the Pilots to 26.8% shooting from the field and 16.1% from the three-point line, while they would shoot 56.7% from the field, 35.7% from the three-point line, and 57.1% from the free throw line. With the three wins, the Thunder now improve to 5-2 overall.

The Thunder will play their next game on Tuesday, November 25th. This contest will be an exhibition against Newman University at 10:30AM in Wichita, Kansas.

How to Follow the Thunder: For complete information and to stay up-to-date with Manhattan Christian College Men's and Women's Basketball, visit www.mccthunder.com and follow the team's social media pages on the Men's X and Instagram and the Women's X and Instagram.