The Thunder men's basketball team open play at the 2025 NCCAA National Tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Thunder would battle with the #6 seed Campbellsville University-Harrodsburg Pioneers and would pull off a gritty win, 72-69, to advance to the Final Four on Friday evening. This will be the Thunder's eighth appearance in the NCCAA Tournament Final Four since being affiliated with the NCCAA in 1994. The Thunder and Pioneers would be in a back-and-forth affair all game as their would be 19 lead changes and 15 ties throughout the entirety of the game. The game would be tied 38-38 going into the half. The Pioneer would take the largest lead of the game, a seven point lead with 7:51 to go. A 7-0 by the Thunder would tie the game at 59. The Thunder would fall behind by five with 2:44 left before an 8-0 run would close out the game and lead the Thunder to victory.

The Thunder would shoot 40.7% from the field, 25.0% from the three-point line, and 75.0% from the free throw line. Junior, Xavier Lucas would pace the Thunder with 20 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and 10-11 shooting from the free throw line, to go along with nine rebounds. Fellow junior, Jaxon Hurla would have 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals, while senior, Cody Mericle would have nine points and 10 rebounds. The Thunder would out-rebound the Pioneers 43-25 on the afternoon.

The Thunder will play in the NCCAA National Tournament Semifinal against the #2 seed Spurgeon College Knights tomorrow at 5:00 PM.

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