MidAmerica Nazarene head men’s basketball coach Rocky Lamar reached 800 career wins with a 95-80 victory over Grand View this Saturday. The Pioneers started hot and built a 23-11 lead, and the advantage got as high as 19 in the first half. In the second half, the Pioneers built a 20-point lead before Grand View started to fight back. The deficit was cut to 12 with 10 minutes left, but MNU pushed the lead back to 24 and cruised to the finish.

Lamar has been at the helm of the Pioneers since 1986. The 1976 MidAmerica Nazarene graduate was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2014 and is the active NAIA leader in wins.

Coach Lamar has coached 28 NAIA All-America honorees. He has also been named HAAC Coach of the Year seven times (89-90, 91-92, 95-96, 99-00, 06-07, 11-12, and 2015-16). He was named NAIA & KBCA Coach of the Year for the 06-07 season, and KBCA Coach of the Year for the 08-09 season. The Pioneers have won 13 conference championships, and have been to the NAIA national tournament 19 times. They finished 2nd in the NCCAA National Tournament in 1996-97 & 1997-98. MNU basketball has reached the NAIA final four in 2001 (runner-up), 2006, 2007 (National Champs), 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2016.

Lamar announced back in September that he will retire at the conclusion of this season.