Eagles go 2-1, Take Home 3rd Place Trophy in Manhattan

On Thursday the #4 seed Eagles faced the #5 seed Warriors from Calvary University in the quarterfinals of the MCCC tournament. 

The Warriors jumped on the Eagles early in the 1st half and gained a small lead. The Eagles battled back to take the lead just before half and went into halftime leading 35-30. The Warriors seemed to run out of gas as the Eagles came out on a mission in the 2nd half scoring 51 points and holding the Warriors to 35 points. The Eagles controlled the game from the 18 minute mark on in the 2nd half and ended up beating the Warriors 86-65. The upperclassmen for the Eagles provided the defense and the underclassmen provided the scoring as Sophomore Mason Gorsh had 32 points and Freshman Asa LaFleur scored 22 points. 

Next up the Eagles met the #1 seed Thunder from Manhattan Christian College on Friday in the semifinals. 

The Thunder started the 1st half on a tear, jumping out to a 14-0 lead. The Eagles made some adjustments and with the help of some bench scoring cut the Thunder's lead right before halftime to 3. Unfortunately, the Thunder made some difficult buckets late and pushed their lead to a more comfortable 11 points going into halftime. The late 1st half push by the Thunder seemed to carry over in the 2nd half as the Thunder pushed their lead to nearly 20 early on. The Eagles did not let the game turn ugly but never could recover from the deficit and ended up losing to the Thunder 97-77. Mason Gorsh led the way with 24 points, Josh Baucum added 20, and Parker Lundberg chipped in 11. 

On Saturday, the Eagles took on the #6 seed Saints from Central Christian College of the Bible in the 3rd place game. 

The 1st half was very competitive as both teams exchanged leads. The Eagles went on a small run before halftime and went into half leading the Saints 35-30. The 2nd half was all Eagles as they slowly built their lead to double digits with the help of 28 points from Mason Gorsh and stout defense from a group of Eagles reserves. In the end, the Eagles cruised to a 76-61 victory, taking 3rd place in the MCCC tournament. 

Mason Gorsh averaged 28 points over the course of the tournament and took home a 2nd team all conference award. The Eagles as a team took home the Sportsmanship award. This weekend improved the team's record to 14-15 on the season. 

The Eagles are off for this week but will be back and action for the North Region tournament that takes place at home March 3-5. Stay tuned as exact dates and times are TBD.