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.
With five ladies, two coaches and a ton of heart the Women's Basketball team earned it's first victory of the 2020-21 season last Wednesday against Southwestern Adventist University, 76-45. The victory for the Lady Thunder is the first career victory for Head Coach, Mindy Eckert. MCC led from start to finish and were paced by freshman guard, Roni Harris, who poured in 31 points. Junior, Darby Cook, finished with a near triple-double as she scored 24 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 7 assists.
On Saturday, MCC would drop a tough contest on the road at Central Christian College of the Bible (MO), 60-64. Harris would again have a phenomenal night, scoring 39 points and hauling in seven rebounds. The Lady Thunder would struggle to score late as they saw a 3 point lead evaporate in the final ninety seconds. The ladies got back to it last night at Calvary University. The game would be another back and forth affair as MCC saw themselves trailing after the first half of action 29-34. A big third quarter saw the Lady Thunder recapture the lead and never look back as they would take the victory, 63-58. Harris once again led the Thunder with 31 points.
MCC will be back in action this Saturday as they travel to Ankeny, IA for a 2:00 pm tip with the Eagles of Faith Baptist Bible College.
Eckert's Coaching Experience:
Mindy Eckert is heading into her fourth year as the Head Women’s Basketball at Manhattan Christian College. In her first year (2020-21) the Lady Thunder, who played a big part of the season with only 5 players, finished with a record of 5-12 record. Year two (2021-22) saw much growth as the ladies went 8-16 and finished 4th in the Midwest Christian Conference. The 2022-23 season saw a tough schedule that lead to a 4-19 record, 4-8 in MCCC Conference play.
Originally from Effingham KS, Mindy graduated in 2007 from Atchison County Community High School. After high school, she attended Bethel College to play basketball but after two years, she decided to transferred to the University of Saint Mary to be closer to family. She continued and finished her athletic career at USM and graduated with a degree in Biology in 2012.
Fun Facts:
On Kansas Day the basketball teams from Manhattan Christian College made the four hour trip in to Missouri to take on long time rival, Ozark Christian College, in a double header. The first game up was the women's contest slated to start at 5:00 pm. It would be a rough start for the Lady Thunder as they watched the home team jump all over them in the first quarter to the tune of a 19-5 lead after the first quarter. The ladies would be able to make up ground early in the second as they switched defenses and forced some key turnovers by the Lady Ambassadors to go on their own 13-4 run to cut the lead to 18-23 with 4:00 minutes left in the second quarter. After a timeout called by Ozark, the host would answer back and take a 19-32 lead at halftime. The third quarter would be a back and forth affair with the Lady Thunder unable to make up any ground. In the fourth quarter, Ozark would put the Thunder away for good to close out the contest with a 50-71 victory. In the loss, senior Kennedy Wilson would make her presence felt with 19 points and 3 rebounds off the bench. Freshman, Roni Harris, would chip in 12 points and 5 steals.
In the second half of the double header, the mens teams would rekindle the 60 year old rivalry between the two schools. Early on in the contest the Ambassadors were able to stick with the #4 Thunder with key offensive rebounds and put backs. At the ten minute mark, MCC would begin to push the lead open with a 12-4 run. The end of the first half saw MCC take an 11 point lead to the locker room. The second half was more of the same way that the first half finished. Ozark would never threaten the Thunder who won the contest 95-72. All 14 guys in uniform saw playing time while the team racked up 16 team assists. MCC was paced by sophomore, Taymont Lindsey, who finished with 20 points.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Overland Park to take on the Falcons of Kansas Christian College.
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.
