With a victory over the No. 1 team in the nation, and have that win be for a Southwest Regional championship, and have that championship be worth an automatic seed in the Division II National Christian College Basketball Championships, and if you’re the coach of that team, it’s only natural to wonder how the team responds.
“They were pretty stoked on Saturday. They knew they had accomplished something by beating Randall on their home floor,” said Manhattan Christian College men’s basketball coach Shawn Condra of the Thunder’s 104-103 victory.
And since then, Condra said, “Practices have been shorter, but with more intensity. We’re playing mature kids. Most are juniors and seniors, and the younger kids are mature kids. We have four or five guys who played a lot last year and they’ve been very business
-like, so there’s reason to feel optimistic.”
MCC enters Thursday’s noon tipoff at the national tournament in Ankeny, Iowa, as the No. 2 seed entering a first-round game against No. 7 seeded Kentucky Christian College.
The Thunder ended the season with a 23-7 record and No. 2 national ranking in the latest poll.
The Knights finished at 16-13 and stood at No. 6 in the last national poll. A loss to Grace Bible College in the Mideast Regional semi-finals ended a 12-game win streak for Kentucky Christian.
The Knights’ go-to man is 6-foot-4 Hayden Dunn, who was the Mideast Region MVP. He leads the nation in scoring at 25.4 points per game, plus snares 11.0 rebounds. He shoots 53 percent overall, which includes 40 percent from 3-point range.
“We’ve seen tape and Kentucky Christian is a very good team,” said Condra. “If we don’t bring our ‘A’ game we’ll be in trouble.”
MCC has been playing “A-type” hoops as the Thunder has won six games in a row, and 19-2 dating back to Dec. 8, 2016. Both of those losses were in overtime to Randall.
On the opportunity to win three more games and capture a first-ever national title, Condra said, “It would mean accomplishing something that has never been done. If you win, it means that you are the best at your level of play. That would mean making a statement. As a coach, you want to achieve at the highest level. We just hope to go and play with focus and to our capabilities.”
Twice MCC has placed third in the nation with those coming in 2009 and 2016.
After defeating No. 1 Randall in the Southwest Region championship game, Condra said, “The guys were hoping to be seeded No. 1, but it doesn’t matter now so we’ll go to nationals and see what we can do.”
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TOURNEY BRACKET
FIRST ROUND
Thursday 10:00 – No. 3 Valley Forge (PA) vs. No 6 Trinity College of Florida
Thursday 12:00 — No. 2 Manhattan Christian College vs. No. 7 Kentucky Christian
Thursday 6:00 – No. 4 Randall University (OK) vs. No. 5 Bob Jones University (SC)
Thursday 8:00 – No. 1 Grace Bible College (MI) vs. No. 8 Moody Bible Institute (IL)
SEMI-FINALS
Friday 9:00 – Game 1-2 losers
Friday 12:30 – Game 3-4 losers
Friday 4:00 – Game 1-2 winners
Friday 7:30 – Game 3-4 winners
FINALS
Saturday 9:00 – Winners Games 5-6 for 5th place
Saturday 12:30 – Losers of Games 7-8 for 3rd place
Saturday 6:00 – Winners of Games 7-8 for 1st place