The victory on Thursday didn’t happen for the Missouri Military Academy seniors.

MMA Senior Night Photo Gallery

However, even after a 64-49 loss to Columbia Independent on Senior Night in Mexico, the five basketball Colonels among the eight total winter athletes recognized in a ceremony prior to the junior varsity contest have been proud to be cadets at MMA. 

Head coach Roger Siwak said he could tell how much the seniors — Nathan Dempsey, Ky-mani Erskine, Bradley Thumbi, Josh McCart and Joseph Roach — wanted to defeat the Lions again after winning 41-38 in the first meeting earlier this season. For that night, the Colonels (2-21) made too many mistakes and couldn’t cut into their deficit outside of tying the game momentarily at 29 early in the third quarter.

“I’m proud of our seniors for giving it everything they had,” Siwak said. “They’re very passionate about the game, and I appreciate their passion. They really wanted this tonight. That means a lot to the program and to coach (Traevonne) Smith about how hard we work.”

Siwak said leaving shooters open as often as MMA did — along with closing out at improper angles — usually will make the game harder, and that’s what happened. Columbia Independent (9-12) took a 23-13 lead after the first quarter after hitting half of its eight 3-pointers in the game. Gabe Martin accounted for four 3-pointers of his 16 points, which matched Deolu Adibiyi’s total and followed Blake Morris’ game-high 19 points.

“(Martin) hit some shots, and we knew that was one we had to focus on,” Siwak said. “They set a nice screen once (for example), he got open and hit a nice 3.”

Siwak complimented the Colonels’ press they used later in the game to attempt its comeback as it forced some Columbia Independent turnovers, but it ultimately wasn’t enough.

Dempsey led MMA along with Gihana Favour Nziza with 10 points while Mateo Eaton followed with eight points and two 3-pointers, and Erskine finished with five points and a team-high seven rebounds. Because of the efforts of those players along with the five others that scored for MMA, the Colonels surpassed its season average of 39.2 points per game — 11-season low — even with McCart and Roach unavailable due to injury. Siwak said the offense stalled too many times to result in turnovers and nine steals for the Lions.

“We talked about it before where we pick the ball up and where we pick our dribble up, and we try to make adjustments to that,” Siwak said. “We pick our dribble up too far away from the basket, and it’s hard for guys to get open off of that.”

Having shooters like McCart and Roach unable to play hurt the Colonels, Siwak said, and he has appreciated what they brought to the team in their first-year playing for him this year. Siwak also said he liked the experience from players such as Dempsey and will miss them.

Dempsey has been at MMA for six years and has been in the basketball program four years along with being part of soccer and tennis. The Texas native said he probably will redshirt in tennis when he attends Texas A&M to study architecture but has a wonderful life at MMA he will eventually leave behind.

“I do everything I do for my grandfather because it’s like a legacy for my last name,” Dempsey said. “Being a cadet at MMA is hard at times, but the people around make it better. The brotherhood is a really big thing.”

The family Dempsey gained at MMA has meant a lot to him like the relationship with his grandfather, Heulin Martin, who served over 20 years in the Army. Martin filled in a father role after Dempsey said his parents divorced when he was young and said he has become more of a man after his time at the school.

“The people I’ve met and the connections I’ve made have been wonderful,” Dempsey said. “I’m going to miss these guys.”

Siwak said MMA couldn’t put four quarters together as often this season as its 10-15 campaign in his first season but believed the Colonels played well at times, especially toward the end of the season. It hurts that the seniors couldn’t pick up a win in the regular season before MMA’s Class 3 District 7 tournament matchup with South Callaway (18-6) — at 7:30 p.m. in New Bloomfield — the following Tuesday, but Siwak said it will also hurt not having his seniors next season.

“We love what our seniors have done for the program, and we love their effort,” Siwak said. “They will be missed.”