Recap: Thunder Basketball Has Successful Weekend at Faith Classic
The Thunder women's and men's basketball teams both traveled to Ankeny, Iowa this weekend to compete in the Faith Classic against the Trinity Bible College Lions and the Kuyper College Cougars. The women would open with the Lions on Friday afternoon earning their second win of the season with a 57-50 final. The Thunder were led by the hot hand of freshman, Elayna Wegner who scored 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and 4-8 from the three-point line. She would also have nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Junior, Nekayla Williams would have 18 points, nine rebound, and three steals, while freshman, Ca'Mya Burns would chip in with seven points. The Thunder would shoot 35.9% from the field, 35.0% from the three-point line, and 33.3% from the free throw line as a team.
On Saturday morning, the women would face the Kuyper College Cougars to finish off their games at the Faith Classic. After a close first quarter, the Thunder would be outscored by 22 in the second, were unable to comeback, and would fall to the Cougars by a score of 69-35. The Thunder would shoot 24.1% from the field, 11.1% from the three-point line, and 62.5% from the free throw line. Freshman, Macayla Hines would have 12 points and six rebounds for the Thunder, while freshman counterpart, Wegner would have seven points and seven rebounds. After a 1-1 weekend, the Thunder are now 2-5 overall.
The women will be back in action on Tuesday, December 3rd where they will host the Union Adventist University Warriors at 6:00 PM at Howie's Activity Center.
The men would also open with the Trinity Bible College Lions on Friday afternoon, where the Thunder would be behind at the half, but would outscore the Lions 52-28 in the second half to earn an 85-66 victory. The Thunder were lead by sophomore, Davis Rokey who had a double-double with 22 points and 19 rebounds in 21 minutes. Junior, Jaxon Hurla had 14 points on four made threes to go along with four assists, while senior, Cody Mericle would have 12 points and five rebounds on 4-7 shooting from the field and 2-2 from the three-point line. Junior, Xavier Lucas had a near double-double with nine points and 13 boards for the Thunder. The Thunder would shoot 44.3% from the field, 37.9% from the three-point line, and 85.7% from the free throw line.
On Saturday morning, the men would play the Kuyper College Cougars, who also came off a win on Friday. A close game throughout between the two would see multiple ties and lead changes until the Thunder would pair hot shooting from beyond the arch with defensive stops to prevail 90-78. The Thunder would shoot 48.3% from the field, 42.9% from the three-point line, ad 76.9% from the free throw line. Another double-double by Rokey, who had 31 points and 17 boards, would propel the Thunder's offensive attack. Junior, Landon Gray would score 21 points off the bench on six made threes to go with four assists. Hurla would have a double-double of his own with 15 points and 10 assists to zero turnovers with five boards to go along with that. Senior, Micah Lovett would chip in with 10 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals for the Thunder. With the two wins on the weekend, the Thunder are now 3-7 on the season.
The men will be back on the court on Tuesday, November 26th when they hit the road to take on NCAA Division II opponent, the Southwest Baptist University Bearcats, in an exhibition game at 7:00 PM in Bolivar, Missouri.
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