Nebraska Christian
- Jan 24, 2020
- 6 min read
Nebraska Christian Sentinels (10-9) vs. Mount Marty Lancers (13-6)
Thursday, January 23, 2020 @ 7:00 PM
Omaha, NE D.J. Sokol Arena
THE SCHOOL
Nebraska Christian College is a private, ministry-focused Christian college in Papillion, Nebraska. Founded in 1944, NCC has an enrollment of 145 students and I can't find endowment numbers anywhere. The men's basketball team has fifteen players; this means that over ten percent of the school's students play varsity men's basketball. When you throw in their women's basketball and men's and women's soccer teams, about one-third of the student body are athletes. This is abnormal. Speaking of abnormal, Nebraska Christian College created a partnership with Hope International University (located in California) in 2016. This partnership effectively makes Nebraska Christian a satellite campus of Hope International. I don't totally understand how this works, but if you keep reading, you'll see that there are several things a little kooky about Nebraska Christian College.
The Sentinels compete as an independent in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). They are the only full-time member of the NCCAA in Nebraska. From what I can tell, NCC had a basketball program in the 1990s and 2000s before shuttering their entire athletic department in the early 2010s. Then, coinciding with the merger with Hope International University, NCC brought back men's and women's basketball and soccer squads in 2016 with a new nickname, logo, and brand. Apparently they used to be the Parsons.
Mount Marty College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Yankton, South Dakota, which is just past the Nebraska border. The Lancers compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in Division II of the NAIA. Mount Marty is a traditional cellar-dweller in the GPAC; they haven't had a winning season since the 2005-06 season and between February 1, 2014 and January 13, 2018, they lost seventy-one consecutive conference games. But they're actually good this year. The Lancers are 8-4 in conference play and are ranked #17 in the NAIA DII poll.
THE TOWN
green=my apartment, blue=my office, yellow=previous games, red=this game
I can't say much about Papillion or the Nebraska Christian College campus because I didn't actually go there. Nebraska Christian doesn't have an on-campus gym, so they split their home games between the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center in Bellevue and D.J. Sokol Arena on Creighton University's campus. Fortunately for me, this game was played in D.J. Sokol which is just a couple blocks away from my office. The arena is easy walking distance but a persistent mix of rain and snow made driving the preferred option. I parked a little past the building and walked through part of Creighton's campus, which looks very pretty, even at night.
Because of this setup, Nebraska Christian doesn't play many games at "home" - in fact, they only have six designated home games this season. I actually intended on going to a Nebraska Christian game back in early December, but a couple weeks before the game it mysteriously got changed to an away match. This game ended up being the only one I had a real opportunity to go to, so I'm glad I was able to make it to this one.
Even though I didn't visit Nebraska Christian's campus, I wanted to get a feel for what it's like. Apparently, it's pretty out of the way. A 2017 article in the Omaha World-Herald claimed the campus "comprises a few buildings off a dirt road in the middle of farm fields." Hope International University's website details directions to Nebraska Christian which they end with this quote:
"For years the campus had only been accessible via a gravel road, which is currently being paved. Due to the construction, please allow an extra 10 minutes of travel time."
I now understand why they don't have an on-campus gym.
I also understand why they like playing in D.J. Sokol Arena. The gym normally hosts Creighton's women's basketball and volleyball teams, and it's really nice. It has chair-back seats, big blue walls past both baselines, a sizable video board, and a capacity of about 3,000. It's too bad I missed volleyball season because I bet this is an excellent place to catch a volleyball match.
THE GAME
I totally could have gotten in without paying - there are several entry points onto the court and there was only one person manning one (and she didn't even see me at first) - but I thought it couldn't hurt for Nebraska Christian College to have five of my dollars. I had a bounty of seats to pick from and I selected one on the second row, near halfcourt. At tipoff, I counted 26 people in the stands, and I'm fairly certain I was the only one not related to anyone playing in the game. Of the 26, most were there to support Mount Marty. Nebraska Christian has a lot working against them: they're a teeny-tiny college playing half an hour from campus, and I imagine most Nebraska residents have never heard of the school. But, 26 in attendance is a record low for me, and I'm pretty sure it won't be surpassed.
Mount Marty had a radio broadcast of the game on an AM station in Yankton, and I sat right behind the broadcaster. This was fun. Because the arena wasn't very loud, I could hear most of his comments and the guy had a marvelous radio voice. At one point in the second half, his equipment broke. His power shut off and he lost access to the little soundboard he used. So, he got out his phone and called in to the radio station to continue broadcasting the game for a few minutes before figuring out the problem. The guy was a pro.
This game did not have a PA announcer, but a Nebraska Christian student who was - I'm guessing - nineteen years old led the arena in prayer and introduced the starting lineups. She had fun with the starting lineups and did a good job, except for one moment. Mount Marty's starting forward is from the Republic of Georgia. His name is Saba Gvedashvili. I don't think she'd practiced and poor Saba just laughed as she struggled.
I haven't typically singled out coaches, but I'll make an exception for NCC's head coach, team manager, and athletic director, Willie Williams. Williams was a 5'6" ball of energy who yelled a lot. Not in a negative way for the most part, but he just kinda had a loud voice that echoed throughout the nearly-empty 3,000-seat arena. I heard every word he said. He was often as entertaining as the game.
The guy who did the opening jump ball for Nebraska Christian was, for some reason, 5'11" guard Tyler Durham. He didn't even try; he just stood still when the referee tossed the ball. Mount Marty obviously got the ball first and they quickly took advantage with a fast 10-0 run over the first 2:50. Nebraska Christian didn't fold though, and they cut it to 16-8 with fifteen minutes left in the first half. Mount Marty then went on a huge scoring drought, which allowed Nebraska Christian to tie the game at 16. But they couldn't take the lead, and Mount Marty turned a 14-4 run into a ten-point advantage with five minutes left. Nebraska Christian just kept hanging around though, and Mount Marty entered halftime up 34-29.
At halftime, pop music played over the PA system while several NCC student assistants and the young woman who butchered Saba Gvedashvili's name did a shootaround.
The first five minutes of the second half saw Mount Marty build a little on their lead and they were up 42-34 at a timeout with 15:00 remaining. A quick 6-0 Nebraska Christian run cut the lead down to 2, but Mount Marty answered with 6 straight points of their own to make it 48-40. With 8:25 left, Mount Marty took their first double digit lead of the second half, 57-47. The rest of the game followed a script. NCC would get it down to a one- or two-possession game, but Mount Marty always answered to get it back to an eight- or ten-point lead. Then Mount Marty would build upon their lead and be close to putting it out of reach, but Nebraska Christian always clawed back. Finally, the Sentinels just ran out of time, and the game ended as an eleven-point Mount Marty victory.
Final: Mount Marty 67, Nebraska Christian 56
As one of the twenty-six people who went out of their way to go to a Nebraska Christian basketball game, I had a fun time. NCC's weirdness makes it unique even among the other small-school games I've seen and, considering the small amount of home games they play, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it here. I'm glad I did.
Next up: Bellevue University
Comments