Hosting a classic can be tough. Hosting a classic and playing well can be even tougher, but the Thunder proved they were up for the task as they welcomed Barclay College, Central Christian College (KS) and Great Lakes Christian College (MI) to Howie's Activity Center for the first MCC Thanksgiving Classic. On Friday night, MCC took on the tough task of slowing down Central Christian College (KS) out of the Sooner Athletic Conference and the NAIA. The first half of the contest looked like a slug fest as both teams went back and forth with the lead and a two point CCC lead, 35-37, at halftime. In the second half, MCC was able to take control of the contest by identifying shooters and grabbing rebounds. The Thunder had five double figure scorers in the game that led to an impressive 82-63 victory. MCC had 23 assists on 30 made field goals.

In the Saturday contest, MCC would play host to NCCAA power house, Great Lakes Christian College. The contest figured to be a high scoring affair as GLCC boasts two 20+ ppg scorers and has been one of the most prolific offenses over the last three seasons. The game started similar to the contest on Friday night with both teams going back and forth looking to gain control of the contest. MCC would hold a 4 point lead at the half. That lead would baloon to as much as 20 points in the second half before settling at a final margin of 13 points, 91-78. The Thunder again would play an unselfish style of hoops with 6 guys hitting double figures and the team rolling with 24 assists on 33 made field goals. MCC would have a season high with 11 three pointers made in the victory. 

There is no rest for the weary as the Thunder will play their third game in four days on Monday afternoon as they host NCCAA DI, Ecclesia College at 2:30 PM. That will be the final contest for the Thunder as they break for the semester amid COVID precausions. 

The first game back from break can always be challenging and there was no exception to that rule on Wednesday night when both the men's and women's basketball teams welcomed in Champion Christian College for a regional double header. The undermanned women's team kicked things off at 4:00 pm with the Lady Tigers who came into the game with a 3-1 record. The contest started out slowly as the Thunder were able to hold the Champion attack at bay during the first four minutes. Coming out of a timeout, the Lady Tigers roared out to 12-2 run to extend their lead to 21-9 at the end of the first. The second quarter would see MCC play with more poise and balance as the Thunder battled back and forth, cutting into the champion lead before letting the Tigers extend it to 16 at the half. In the second half, Champion would push their lead out to as much as 42 points by the final whistle. The finals score was 43-85. The larges factor in the game was the unforced turnovers as MCC would turn it over 46 times and give up 51 points off of those turnovers. The battle tested Thunder will be back in action on Friday at 9:00 am when they take on the Emmaus Eagles at the conference classic in Kansas City. 

The men's team had similar headlines heading into the game as they were forced to play undermanned with 4 rotation players missing from the action. The Thunder entered the contest on a four game winning streak dating back to the first semester. This game would not have a different outcome as MCC battled back and forth with Champion during the first half, facing a deficeit as large as six points with six minutes remaining in the first half. The Thunder would find themselves down by 1 at the half. In the second half, Champion would come out strong and push the lead up to 5 with fifteen minutes to play. MCC would not fold and battled back to take a six point lead with eight minutes to play. The game saw lead changes 11 times and the score was tied 11 times throughout the game. The Thunder would win by a score of 73-71. Jordan White led the team with 24 points while RJ Johnson and Nate Awbrey would chip in 17 and 15 points respectively. Senior, Isaiah Collier, led the team in rebounds with 10. MCC will be in action on Friday at 10:55 am when they take on Emmaus at the conference classic in Kansas City. 

In the first NCCAA DII Coaches Poll of the 2020-21 season the men's basketball team finds themselves ranked #4 in the nation. The Thunder began the season competing well with opponents outside of the NCCAA, but couldn't find a win until they knocked off Dakota State University out of the NAIA in November. From there, the team has performed more consistently to the tune of a 6-6 record. The Southwest Region is well represented with five teams in the top ten and one more receiving votes. The team is currently on pause because of COVID-19 protocols, but is slated to return to action on January 21, 2021 when they travel to Ankeny, IA to take on Faith Baptist Bible College. 

NCCAA DII Top 10: 

1. Randall University 
2. Barclay College
3. Campbellsville University - Harrodsburg 
4. Manhattan Christian College
5. Kansas Christian College
6. Johnson University - Tennessee
7. Champion Christian College
8. Grace Christian University
9. Trinity Bible College
10. SE Baptist University 

See the full release from the NCCAA here

Three games in three days can be difficult. Three games in three days coming out of 10 days of quarantine with only one practice is a tall task to overcome. The men's basketball team overcame that exact scenario over the weekend in Iowa as they knocked off conference opponents Faith Baptist Bible College (92-66), Emmaus Bible College (86-74) and then Faith Baptist Bible College (91-74) again on Saturday.

The Thunder were able to play a selfless style of basketball as they racked up 58 assists in three games. Each time out, the Thunder spread the basketball around to the tune of three different leading scoreres in three days along with 4 or more double figure scorers in each game. With the wins, MCC moves to 9-6 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. They will be back in action at home on Tuesday as they play host to the #2 ranked Bears of Barclay College.

The men's basketball team held steady in this weeks version of the NCCAA National Coaches Poll coming in at #4. After the last poll was released the Thunder paused team activities for ten days as they observed COVID protocols, but got back after it last weekend in Iowa. MCC knocked off #10 Faith Baptist Bible College twice in three days with Emmaus Bible College sandwhiched between games. The road for the Thunder doesn't get any easier as they welcome #8 Barclay College to Howie's Activity Center tonight for a 7:00 pm tip off. With Barclay and Faith both ranked the Midwest Christian College Conference is well represented, having three teams in the top ten. Along with MCC and Barclay both Randall (#1) and Kansas Christian College (#2) reperesent the Southwest Region. 

NCCAA Top 10: 

#1 Randall University 
#2 Kansas Christian College
#3 Johnson University - Tennessee
#4 Manhattan 
#5 Great Lakes Christian College
#6 Trinity Bible College
#7 Trinity Baptist College
#8 Barclay College
#9 Campbellsville Harrodsburg
#10 Faith Baptist Bible College

To see the full poll and article click here. 

This past week the Lady Thunder traveled to Dubuque, IA to take part in the Mid-West Christian Conference Tournament. As the #6 seed their first opponent was #3 Emmaus Bible College, who earlier in the season beat MCC on a half court shot at the buzzer. Looking to redeem themselves the Lady Thunder came out strong but after the first quarter, the ladies struggled to knock down shots and get defensive stops. Emmaus went on to beat MCC 77-56.

Friday morning, in an elimination game, MCC faced #7 Central Christian College of the Bible. Having another strong start, going up 20-10 after the first quarter, CCCB stuck around but MCC refused to give up the lead. Freshman Roni Harris, who was named to the 2nd Team All-Conference team, lead the team in scoring with 19 points. Darby Cook and Jordan Lewis also chipped in with 16 points each while Tristen Heiden grab 10 rebounds. With a 64-57 win over CCCB, that sent the Lady Thunder into the early morning 5th place game again Faith Baptist College. Two very close game earlier in the year, with FBC coming away with the wins, this constant looked to be a good, but close game.

A season played through a global pandemic is coming closer to its end date as the men's basketball team heads to Dallas, Tx for the 2021 NCCAA DII SW Region Tournament on the campus of Dallas Christian College. Coming off of both a regular season and conference tournament championship the Thunder have earned the #3 seed in the North division and will open up quarterfinal play on Thursday, February 25th, at 4:00 pm against the #2 seed in the South division, Arlington Baptist University. Should the Thunder win on Thursday they would advance to the semifinals where they would play the winner of the #1 seed in the North, Barclay College, and the #5 seed in the South, SW Adventist University at 6:30 pm on Friday. The championship is scheduled for a 3:00 pm tip on Saturday. 

MCC enters the tournament with a 17-8 overall record that includes a record of 15-3 against NCCAA competition. The only three losses the Thunder have eaten this season have come vs teams in the NCCAA top ten. The Thunder also boast victories over several teams that are either currently in or have been in the top 10 this year. MCC is currently ranked #5 in the final NCCAA Coaches Poll where they are joined by four other members of the SW Region, Randall (#1), Kansas Christian (#3), Barclay College (#8) and Arlington Baptist (#9). MCC currently sits at #4 in the NCCAA Power Ratings. 

"The Southwest Region is as deep as its ever been and we know that this game with Arlington is going to be tough. They are as tough to stop as any team we've seen all season and are very well coached. They might have the two best players in the region with Mallard and Stafford and heading to Texas to play them will certainly be a challenge, but we are looking forward to it," commented Head Coach, Jordan Strom. 

Dallas Christian College is the host of the tournament and will be updating tournament results and stats on the official tournament page here. There will also be a live stream of each contest available here. Due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be limits to fans in attendance and those reservations have already been made through the coaching staff. 

2021 NCCAA DII SW Region Seeds:

1N. Barclay College
2N. Kansas Christian College
3N. Manhattan Christian College
4N. Ozark Christian College
5N. Spurgeon College (Not participating)

1S. Randall University 
2S. Arlington Baptist University
3S. Champion Christian College
4S. Dallas Christian College (Eliminated in play-in game)
5S. Southwestern Adventist University (Advanced in play-in game)

A second chance is what the doctor ordered after the Thunder were beat in a top 10 matchup at the SW Region Tournament by Arlington Baptist University. MCC earned the final at-large bid to the NCCAA DII National Championships and will be the #6 seed where they will take on another at-large selection out of the Mid-East region, #3 Johnson Univeristy. If the matchup looks familiar that's because it is. These two schools were scheduled to play in the first round of the 2020 NCCAA DII tournament before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the tournament. 

"It's crazy how it all worked out this season. I know everyone was disappointed at the end of the 2020 season when COVID cancelled all of our tournaments and our off-seasons were put on pause. It's really amazing to sit back and think about everything that has happened over the course of the last twelve months and to be sitting here, right now, with the opportunity to play... man, I'm just so excited for our guys," commented Head Coach, Jordan Strom. 

The task will not be an easy one for the Thunder (17-9, 9-1) as they enter their 12th NCCAA DII tournament appearance all time. Johnson University (11-7, 5-0) enters the tournament as the #3 overall seed, earning a bid via the at-large selection process. 

"Johnson University is a household name and Coach Perry has done a tremendous job during his time there of competing for national championships on a regular basis. Their roster is very talented and it's led by senior Coby Jones, who is a player of the year candidate. Obviously, to advance we are going to need to be at our best," said Strom.

The Royals entered the Mid-East Region Tournament as the #1 overall seed where they dropped their semifinal contest to powerhouse, Grace Christian University, who would eventually win that region tournament. The Thunder would be victims of a similar circumstance as they lost their quarterfinal contest to #8 Arlington Baptist University at the SW Region Tournament. While both teams would fall earlier than expected in their respective region tournaments both would earn at-large bids to the NCCAA DII Championships this week. 

"Just with everything we've gone through as a team and the emotions of the last three weeks we are extremely thankful to have a chance to play this week and we're excited to have a shot at playing one of the premier teams in the country," commented Strom. 

Action begins on Wednesday, March 10th, at 8:00 PM CST when the Thunder and the Royals clash in Joplin. All games can be seen live on the NCCAA Network and heard live as long time voice of the NCCAA DII Basketball Tournament, Rick Cooper, provides a free play-by-play audio call of the tournament that is complete with pre and post game interviews and game previews. 

NCCAA DII National Tournament Field:
#1 Randall University (at-large out of the SW Region)
#2 Kansas Christian College (SW Region Champion)
#3 Johnson University (at-large out of the ME Region)
#4 Grace Christian University (ME Region Champion) 
#5 Arlington Baptist University (at-large out of the SW Region)
#6 Manhattan Christian College (at-large out of the SW Region)
#7 SE Baptist University (S Region Champion)
#8 Calvary University (N Region Champion)

Tournament Information: https://thenccaa.org/tournaments/?id=619&path=mbball2
Live Stream Link ($$$): https://thenccaa.org/tournaments/?id=486&path=network
Live Audio Stream (FREE): http://war.str3am.com:7570/live - Link will go live 30 minutes before tip off

The men's basketball team qualified for the NCCAA DII National Championships as the final at-large selection into the field of eight and found themselves in a matchup with the #3 seeded Johnson University Royals on Thursday night. The matchup featured Maravich award winner, Coby Jones, and the hardnosed Royals against the high powered Thunder, who entered the game as one of the top scoring teams in the country. The game started out as a defensive battle with both teams struggling to put the ball in the hole. In the last five minutes of the first half the Royals were able to open up the lead and take a 7 point advantage at the half. 

In the second half, MCC would again start cold and find themselves down by as many as 14 points with fifteen to go. They would battle back, however, and cut it back to single digits with 9 minutes left. The lead would stay between nine and twelve over the next several minutes as MCC would fail to make up any ground. With 4:40 on the clock and down eleven, MCC would begin a furious come back that ended with Jordan White freethrows to force overtime. In the first overtime, MCC would again draw a deficet and have to battle. With 2.4 seconds on the clock, Jordan White would grab the rebound off of a second free throw from Johnson and launch a three quarter-court shot to force a second OT. With many players fouled out, the Thunder would run out of gas in the second OT and fall 92-97. 

The loss would force a short turnaround for MCC as they played today at 12:00 pm in the consolation semi-finals against the champions from the South Region, Southeastern Baptist College. MCC would come out strong and get up by as many as 27 points before coasting to a ten point victory. The Thunder would rack up 20 assists in the game. The win now sets up a consolation championship matchup with the Tigers from Grace Christian University on Saturday at 3:30 PM.