The #6 ranked Thunder men's basketball team would play their final regular season game on Tuesday night against the #1 ranked Spurgeon Knights. The Thunder would play the Knights a little over a month ago where the Knights would need overtime to win, 117-111. On Tuesday night, the Thunder were hoping to knock off the number one team in NCCAA Division II. The Knights would start the game on a 5-0 run, but the Thunder would tie it up five different times with 12:47 remaining in the half. The Thunder would be down as much as nine with 3:35 left in the half, and would finish the half on a 5-0 run of their own to only trail 51-49 after 20 minutes. A stop and a bucket to start the second half would be as close as the Thunder would get it in the second half. The Knights would lead by as much as 11 and that would be the difference in the game once the final buzzer sounded. The final would be 96-85. Senior, Xavier Lucas would have a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while junior, Hunter Hill would have 21 points and four rebounds to pace the Thunder. The Thunder would shoot 39.5% from the field, 29.4% from the three-point line, and 66.7% from the free throw line. The Thunder would out-rebound the Knights, but could not overcome 24 turnovers and the 23 points off of those turnovers. The Thunder finish the regular season at 19-9 and have a NCCAA Central Region record of 9-3.

The Thunder will start postseason play on Thursday, February 20th at the Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament where they will play Barclay College. More information on the postseason will be released tomorrow.

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.