The Eagles' historic season ends at the NJCAA National Tournament

HUTCHINSON, KS - The MCC Eagles' historic season ended Monday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, home of the NJCAA men's basketball national championship. The Eagles(20-9) fell to the Dodge City Conquistadors 63-43 in the tournament's first round.

MCC jumped out to a 9-4 lead on the Conquistadors early in the game behind sophomore guard Christian Terrell's aggressive play. Dodge City rallied back on a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 14-11. The Conquistadors wouldn't relinquish the lead again. The Eagles cut it to 3 at the break and trailed 30-27. Chris Terrell had 11 of his team-high 24 points at halftime to lead all scorers.

Dodge City came out of the break firing on all cylinders as they jumped out on the Eagles 11-2 run and held a 41-29 lead less than five minutes into the second half. The Conquistadors kept that lead throughout the game to cruise to the 20-point win.

Despite the early-round knockout, the Eagles had a historic season this year, culminating in the team's first trip to the NJCAA national tournament since 1999. This year's group of sophomores lead the team to back-to-back 20-win seasons and back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Region 23 championship game.
Head coach James Green said, "This season was very special, and everyone on this team helped us get to where we are. We represented our school, city, and region well, which we can build on going forward." Prior to the tip-off of the game, Coach Green was presented with the Gulf District Coach of the Year Award.