Last week the Barclay College Men’s Basketball team traveled to the campus of Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, MO for their annual Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament.

The Bears entered the tournament as the 6th seed and took on #3 Ozark Christian College in the opening game of the tournament at high noon on February 20th. Two weeks prior, these two teams squared off in Haviland where the Amabassadors closed the final four minutes out with some clutch free throws to win 106-94. This time around Ozark jumped out to an early lead before the Bears started firing on all cylinders to close the gap to six by halftime. The game was back and forth in the second half. The Ambassadors would stretch the lead to double figures on several occasion but every time the Bears would answer their run with a run of their own. Freshman Caleb Davis kept the Bears within striking distance with a 36 point performance on 13-21 shooting from the filed, but the Bears could never get closer than six points. In the end the Bears would fall 82-96.

The following day, the Bears faced Calvary Bible College (Belton, MO) in a consolation game. The Bears had won by double digits in the previous two meeting between the two, but this one would come down to the wire. Even though the Bears connected on their first three shots from long range and led by twelve just five minutes into the game, the Warriors roared back and took a seven point lead into the second half. Taking advantage of mismatches, the Bears erased the deficit quickly and seemed in control only to fail to score a field goal in the final four minutes to lose 65-66.

In the two tournament games, Davis scored 57 points on 20-36 shooting, including 8-18 from three, 6 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

The Bears are next in action Dallas Christian College (Dallas, TX) against Ozark Christian College in the opening round of the NCCAA Southwest Region Tournament. It is a win or go home tournament with a bid to the National Tournament in Ohio at stake. Game time is set for 7:00 PM CST on Thursday, February 27th.