Eagles go 1-2 on the weekend, Take 4th place in MCCC Tournament

The Eagles were seeded 5th and they were set to take on the Bears from Barclay College in the quarterfinal game of the MCCC Tournament.  

The Eagles started off the 1st half struggling as they could not get defensive stops. Coach Brian Fincham quickly had the troops switch from zone to man and it seemed to work. As the Eagles got stops, they were able to get easy buckets in transition and went into halftime leading 42-38.

In the 2nd half, the Eagles dominated the Bears as they wore them down on both ends of the floor. In the end, the Eagles defeated the Bears 87-72. Freshman Landon Brahs led the way with 22 points, James Busenitz recorded another double double (13 points and 10 rebounds), and Seth Freeman and Jared Pearson also recorded double digits in the scoring column. 

The next day, the Eagles had to take on the #1 seed Thunder from Manhattan Christian College. The Eagles had lost to the Thunder twice earlier in the year by a large margin so this game was going to be an uphill battle. 

The Eagles came to play in the 1st half. The Thunder made a few runs, but the Eagles were able to weather the storm. The Thunder looked like they were going to run away with the game late in the half, but the Eagles battled back and cut into the Thunder lead. The Eagles went into halftime trailing 33-29. 

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Thunder came out to play in the 2nd half. They dominated the 2nd half on both sides of the floor and showed why they were the #1 seed. The Eagles had a good game on the defensive side as they held the Thunder to 33 and 34 points in both halves but they were only able to score 19 points in the 2nd half. In the end, the Thunder cruised to a 67-48 victory. Andy Hecker led the way with 15 points and James Busenitz chipped in with 11 points respectively. 

The next day, the Eagles were playing their 3rd game in 3 days as they took on the Saints from Central College of the Bible in the 3rd place game. 

The 1st half was rough for the Eagles as they had one of the worst defensive halves of the season. The Saints shot 10-13 from 3 in the 1st half and the Saints went into half with a 52-25 lead. 

The Eagles could have folded and gave up, but they put their heads down and put together one of the best comebacks of the season. The Eagles put on a full court press which led to quick shots from the Saints and easy transition baskets for the Eagles. Freshman Grant Busenitz gave the Eagles a huge lift off the bench as his relentless effort on defense and the offensive glass gave the Eagles extra possessions. The Saints watched their 27 point lead dissipate as the Eagles climbed all the way back. The Eagles had a chance to tie the game with a 3 from Jared Pearson that was about 2 inches long and the Eagles fell short losing 85-80. The Eagles had 4 scorers in double digits with Jared Pearson leading the way with 21 points. After the weekend, the Eagles drop to 8-17 overall (6-9 in MCCC play). 

In the MCCC awards ceremony, Jared Pearson was named to the all conference 2nd team and the Eagles won the sportsmanship award. The Eagles next game is on Tuesday at home as they take on the Warriors from Union College at 6pm CST.