The #6 ranked Thunder men's basketball team also started postseason play at the Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament, but they would play the first game of the tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Thunder would be the two seed and would play the seven seed Barclay College to open the tournament. The Thunder would jump all over the Bears taking a 24-5 lead just under seven minutes into the game. The Bear would use a 24-12 run to finish the half to cut the halftime deficit to seven after 20 minutes of play. The Thunder would use a quick 10-0 run to start the second half to push the lead back up to 17. The closest it would get was 11 and the Thunder would close out the Bears to earn the quarterfinal win, 83-58. Senior, Xavier Lucas would have a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. He would also add four assists. Fellow senior, Jaxon Hurla would have 14 points and hit four threes, while junior, Hunter Hill would chip in with 12 points and seven rebounds. Five other Thunder players would score at least five points as well. The Thunder would shoot 50.0% from the field, 36.0% from the three-point line, and 50.0% from the free throw line.

In the semifinal round, the Thunder would play the winner of the three seed Central Christian College of the Bible or the seed Emmaus University game. Central Christian College of the Bible would get the win and setup a rematch of just a game played just one week ago. The Thunder would win that game on Senior Night, 85-68. The Thunder would find themselves down 10-5 in the early going, but a 16-0 run would give the Thunder a 21-10 lead with 12:42 left in the half. The Thunder and Saints would swap baskets for the rest of the half as the Thunder would take a 10 point lead at the break. After two made free throws by the Saints to start the second half, the Thunder would never see the game get closer than 10 points as they would close out the game with a score of 108-83 and advance to the championship game. This would be the sixth season in a row that the Thunder would appear in the MCCC Tournament Final. Hill would record a double-double with 24 points on 11-14 shooting from the field and 11 rebounds, while Lucas would record his second double-double of the tournament with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Redshirt-junior, Jordan Carter would stuff the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, while sophomore, Tatum Pierce would also have 13 points. The Thunder would shoot 51.8% from the field, 41.7% from the three-point line, and 70.6% from the free throw line.

The championship game would be a battle of the two top seeds in the tournament. The Thunder dropped both regular season games to Faith Baptist Bible College and were looking to avenge those losses in the MCCC Tournament Final. The Thunder would be up 4-0 before the Eagles went on a 5-0 run. It would be a back and forth game for most of the first half as the Thunder would eventually take a six point lead into the break. The Thunder would extend their lead to 10 on their first two possession of the second half. The Eagles would then take the lead at 16:01 and lead by as many as six over a nearly two minute stretch. The lead would be taken back by the Thunder with 11:51 left in the half. Once the Thunder took that lead, they would not trail the rest of the game and would lead by as much as 17. The final score would be 104-91 and the Thunder would claim the 2026 MCCC Tournament Championship for a second straight season. Lucas would have his third double-double in as many days with a 36 point on 15-21 shooting from the field and 13 rebound performance, while Hill would have 24 points and nine rebounds. Carter was one rebound shy of a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists. The Thunder would shoot 53.1% from the field, 15.0% from the three-point line, and 55.6% from the free throw line. On the weekend, the Thunder would out-rebound their opponents 140-76 for a +64 rebounding margin. With the three wins, the Thunder's overall record now sits at 22-9.

The Thunder will now compete in the NCCAA Central Region Tournament on Thursday, February 26th as the two seed and they will play the winner of three seed Ozark Christian College and six seed Union Adventist University, who will play on Wednesday, February 25th. This tournament will be hosted at Manhattan Christian College. This semifinal game will tip at 6:00PM.

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