For the second straight season the Manhattan Christian College men’s basketball team captured the Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament Championship. MCC entered the weekend as the top seed after going 9-0 in conference play. In their opening game they defeated Kansas Christian College, 91-81. After leading by nineteen points at halftime MCC saw the KCC rally to trim the deficit to 53-52 with just over twelve minutes remaining. The Thunder were able to respond to the challenge and would push their lead back 
out to as large as eighteen points before KCC put on a late run to cut the margin to ten points. Mike White led the way for MCC as he scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds. Nick Babalola chipped in with 19 points while Sterling Turner added 18 points and 7 assists.
In Friday’s semi-final game MCC took on Emmaus Bible College (Dubuque, IA) and defeated the Eagles 90-72. The Thunder used a late run at the end of the first half to enter the break with a 48-39 lead. In the second half MCC played well and Emmaus only was able to mount one run, which MCC was able to withstand and hold on for the victory. All five starters reached double figures, led again by White who scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.
The championship game saw the Thunder take on the Bears of Barclay College (Haviland, KS) in a rematch of last year’s championship game. The Bears got off to a strong start and opened up an early 24-16 lead. White got into foul trouble and spent most of the first half on the bench. However key contributions off the bench from Dalton Miller, Horace Scott and Gabe Awbrey allowed MCC to take a 38-32 lead. Barclay would retake the lead at 43-42 but an 8-2 run to end the half gave MCC a 50-45 lead. MCC got off to a strong start in the second half and quickly pushed the lead out to double figures and Barclay was never able to cut the margin below 10 and MCC posted a 103-89 victory. Rayshaun McDonald led the way for MCC with 27 points while Turner chipped in with 18 points.
White was named the MVP of the Conference and Babalola and Turner were both selected First Team All-Conference. MCC is now 20-7 on the season and will head to the NCCAA Southwest Regional Tournament in Moore, OK. The Thunder will be the #2 seed and open play on Thursday.