Ozark men upset top seed Manhattan in MCCC championship
Feb. 24—It was a back-and-forth, closely contested first half between second-seeded Ozark Christian and top-seeded Manhattan Christian on Saturday evening in Ankeny, Iowa, on the campus of Faith Baptist Bible College for the championship of the Midwest Christian College Conference.
The Ambassadors led the Thunder 35-31 at halftime and did just enough to build on that lead and earn the 87-78 victory. Not only was this an upset in terms of seeding, but the win avenges two regular season losses to MCC for the Ambassadors.
This makes two consecutive games in which Ozark has tallied 52 points in the second half.
The Ambassadors were led by the conference MVP once again as Andre Johnson totaled 25 points. Dillon Bycroft added 17 while Micah Colburn chipped in 12 more. Danny Foster finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double.
The Thunder were led in scoring by Vacario Triplett and Mason Ellis with 16 apiece. They actually had six players score the basketball in this game and all six finished in double figures. Others were: Davis Rokey (14), Jamie Juncal (12), Dyelan Reed (10) and Micah Lovett (10).
Ozark improves to 18-10 while Manhattan falls to 16-12.
OCC starts play in the NCCAA Southwest Region tournament on Wednesday. The Ambassadors get to host the tournament and will meet College of Biblical Studies-Houston (4-18) at 7 p.m.
The Ambassadors will look to continue rolling as each regional champion will advance to the field of eight in the NCCAA national tournament in March. There are six regions and each winner makes the national tournament, along with one at-large bid and the host bid, which is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this year.
