The Thunder women's and men's basketball teams hit the road in the freezing cold for a Midwest Christian College Conference and NCCAA Central Region matchup against ranked Ozark Christian College. The women would battle with the #3 ranked Ambassadors looking to avenge a heart-breaking loss at home about two weeks ago. The Lady Thunder would fall at the buzzer by two points to the then #4 ranked Ambassadors, 58-56. On Friday, the Lady Thunder would jump all over the Ambassadors in the first half taking a 12-point lead into the break. A hot shooting third quarter for the Ambassadors and a cold spell for the Lady Thunder would give the home team a lead headed into the fourth. The Lady Thunder would battle in the fourth quarter, but would stumble to the Ambassadors by a score of 67-64. The Lady Thunder drop to 8-10 on the season, while moving to 3-3 in the MCCC and 4-2 in the Central Region.

The Lady Thunder will play again on Friday, January 30th at Randall University at 4:00PM in Moore, Oklahoma.

The men's basketball team would also play a ranked Ambassador team who is ranked #9 in the NCCAA. They were also looking to avenge a loss last time they played earlier this month. The Thunder would come out flat and find themselves down 11 just seven minutes into the basketball game. They would battle back and take a five point lead with 3:26 remaining in the half, but the Ambassadors would hit a three at the end of the half to take a 37-35 lead after 20 minutes. A slow start again by the Thunder would put them in a small hole to climb out of to start the second half. A relentless defense and transition offense would boost the Thunder's lead to 13 with just over 10 minutes left in the game. The #9 ranked team would not go away and would take the lead late in the game, but the Thunder would hit clutch free throws down the stretch and earn the top-10 win over Ozark Christian, 80-77. Seniors Jaxon Hurla and Xavier Lucas would lead the Thunder with 19 and 18 points, respectively, while Hurla would hit six clutch free throws to give the Thunder the three point win. Junior, Hunter Hill would chip in with 13 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore, Tatum Pierce would have 11 points and eight rebounds. The Thunder would shoot 47.6% from the field, 29.4% from the three-point line, and 88.2% from the free throw line. The Thunder move to 13-7 overall, 4-2 in MCCC play, and 5-2 in Central Region play.

The Thunder will play another conference/region game on Tuesday, January 27th at 6:00PM against Barclay College at the Howie's Activity Center.

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.