Both the Thunder men's and women's basketball teams were back at home on Tuesday, as the Lady Thunder were home yesterday for the first time in over a month, while the men were the in the same situation today. The Lady Thunder would face off with the Hesston College Larks, a team they played on November 17th on the road and would fall by a score of 77-59. Tuesday afternoon would be a different story for the Lady Thunder. While they would fall behind 13-1 about halfway through the first quarter, the Lady Thunder would go on a 35-9 run to end the half with 36-22 lead. The Lady Thunder would lead by as much as 19 in the third quarter and finish off the night with a 71-43 victory to avenge the loss from just under a month ago. Four Lady Thunder player would score in double figures led by redshirt-senior, Nekayla Williams who would have a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman, Mackenzie Lovett would also have a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while point guards, Macayla Hines and Jasmine Holloway would have 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Lady Thunder would shoot 34.8% from the field, 36.8% from the three-point line, and 64.0% from the free throw line. The Lady Thunder have now won four games in a row and sit at 5-8 on the season.

The Lady Thunder will play an exhibition game for their final game of 2025 when they travel to play Metropolitan State University-Denver on Saturday, December 20th at 12:00PM.

The #5 ranked Thunder men's basketball team was also at home on Tuesday evening, but against a different opponent in the Randall University Saints. This was the first home game for the Thunder since November 11th. The Thunder would be in a back-and-forth battle throughout most of the first half as the Saints would force the Thunder to use a timeout with a 17-12 lead. The Thunder would claw back to take the lead 26-25 with 5:15 remaining in the first. After 20 minutes, the Thunder would take a 39-38 lead to the break. Another tight start to the second half would keep things interesting for most of the second 20 minutes. An 11-2 run would give the Thunder a 69-60 lead with just over 5 minutes remaining. The Saints would cut the lead to four twice in the next five minutes, but the Thunder would prevail and sneak out with a 77-72 win. Senior, Xavier Lucas would have 21 points and six rebounds, while sophomore, Tatum Pierce would have 17 points on 10-10 shooting from the free throw line. The Thunder would shoot 38.6% from the field, 30.4% from the three-point line, and 72.7% from the free throw line. With the win, the Thunder set a program record for most wins the the fall semester with nine and improve their record to 9-4.

The Thunder will play again on Wednesday, December 31st against their final NAIA team on the schedule in the Doane University Tigers in Crete, Nebraska.

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