The men's basketball team wrapped up their season in a 66-81 loss in the NCCAA Central Region Semifinals against the #2 seeded Kansas Christian College Falcons on Thursday evening. For the year the Thunder finished 17-13 and 12-0 in conference play. MCC won the conference title for the 5th consecutive season while also finishing runners-up at the conference tournament. 

"I'm proud of this group for the things they had to overcome in order to come together to win some games. Each of these young men brought something to the table that is worthy of being proud of and I can't wait to see what's next," commented Head Coach Jordan Strom. 

For seniors Alex Sturtz, Caden Hurla, Desmond Lindsey, Dyelan Reed, Jamie Juncal and Mason Ellis this will be the last time that they don the Thunder uniform. Seniors Hurla and Lindsey joined the program during the COVID season in 2020 and are four year members. They experienced four conference titles, two three tournament titles, three trips to the NCCAA national tournament and two final four berths. Alex Sturtz joined the program in 2021-22, playing for three years and amassing almost 50 career blocks. Mason Ellis joined the team this season with one year left of eligibility and his impact was felt immediately as a defensive force. Jamie Juncal earned honorable mention all-conference honors this season while scoring more than 500 points in his two seasons in Manhattan and Dyelan Reed leaves the program as a 1,000 point scorer, 1st team All-Conference and 1st team All-Region performer. 

"This senior class filled many roles for our program over the years. Great teammates, defensive stoppers, lights out scorers... you name it and they had to do it for us to have success," stated Strom. "I'm so grateful for the time that we all had together and while I'm sad that their time with us is over I know they each have something greater in their lives." 

This version of Thunder basketball is over, but a young nucleus looks to lead next season. For more information about the MCC Basketball season or MCC Athletics check us out on social media @mccmbb or @mccathletics on "X" (formerly twitter), @mccmb_ or @mccathletics on Instagram.