2018-2019 Men's Basketball Wrap Up
The 2018-2019 men's basketball team completed their season with an overall record of 6-17. A challenging schedule, combined with injuries and youth, gave the young Eagles' team many opportunities for improvement and growth as they progressed and developed.
Only three returned from the previous season, as this year's team consisted of seven freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, and one senior. The Eagles schedule included 11 games against teams that were in the NCCAA Top 10 at some point during the season. In addition to the difficult schedule, the Eagles faced an extraordinary amount of injuries and illness throughout the year. After the first 20 minutes of their first game in November, the Eagles never again had a game without at least one player out with injury or illness, and some games saw multiple Eagles unable to play. As a result, nine different men started games for the Eagles as they worked hard to find some consistency.
Despite those challenges, the men continued to show improvement and maintain excellent, Christ-like character. The season started with a promising first two games, as the Eagles opened with a road victory, followed up with a win in their home opener. The schedule then became much more difficult, as their next three games came against NCCAA Top 10 teams. The team rebounded with an exciting, come from behind road victory before finishing out the first semester with several exhibition contests. During the second semester, the injury bug really began to take its toll on the Eagles. Despite that challenge, the Eagles were still able to earn a few more wins, highlighted by an exciting home victory in front of a packed house during their annual high school invitational tournament.
The season was truly a team effort by the Eagles, statistically. Five young men averaged between 9.4 and 12 points per game. Tanner Van Beek averaged 12, Chase Clark averaged 11.4, Sam Pedersen and Kalab Sidlinger averaged 9.6, and Micah Stinson averaged 9.4. Clark led the team in rebounds per game, with 10.8, while Pedersen led the team in assists and steals with 2.9 and 2.1 respectively. Clark finished the season as the #1 rebounder in the NCCAA, while his .539 shooting percentage was good enough for 10th overall in the NCCAA. Van Beek was #18 in the nation in shooting percentage at .512. Sam Pedersen finished 10th overall in the nation in steals. As a team, the Eagles were a rebounding force. Faith led the nation in offensive rebounds per game and finished 7th overall in rebounding margin.
Chase Clark was recognized by the Midwest Christian College Conference coaches as a second-team all-conference selection. Clark was also selected to the National Christian College Athletic Association North Region 2nd Team. Tanner Van Beek earned recognition as a National Christian College Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete. The men's team as a whole was selected by the other Midwest Christian College Conference teams as the recipients of the Richard E. Spencer Sportsmanship Award.
Head coach Brian Fincham had this to say about this year's team. "Despite a challenging year, I really enjoyed coaching this team. There is great potential going forward, with so many young players earning valuable experience during this year's season! I really look forward to seeing what they can accomplish in the next few years!"
