Mark Christensen (basketball)

For other people named Mark Christensen, see Mark Christensen (disambiguation).

Mark Christensen

Personal information
Born	(1952-11-23)November 23, 1952
Nationality	American
Listed height	198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Career information
College	Kearney State (1971–75) Wilfrid Laurier (1975–76)
Position	Center
Career history
As player:
1977–1979	Þór Akureyri
1979	→ KR
1979–1980	ÍR
As coach:
1977–1979	Þór Akureyri
1980	Iceland (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: Úrvalsdeild karla scoring champion (1979) OUAA First Team All-Star (1976)

Mark Christensen (born November 23, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He led the Úrvalsdeild karla in scoring during the 1978–1979 season.

Early life

Christensen grew up in Minden in Nebraska.[1]

College career

Christensen attendted Kearney State College from 1971 to 1975 where he scored 1,070 points over four seasons.[2] He spent the 1975–1976 season with Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario where he was selected to OUAA Men's Basketball First Team All-Star.[3]

Professional career

In 1977, Christensen was hired as a player-coach with Þór Akureyri.[4] During his first season with Þór, he was the third leading scorer in the league with 363 points, averaging 25.9 points in 14 games.[5] After finishing with a 4–10 record, Þór had to face Snæfell in two games for which team would play in the Úrvalsdeild karla the following season.[6] Þór won both games with Christensen scoring 31[7] and 28 points in the outings.[8]

In January 1979, Christensen was loaned to KR[9] to participate international tournament in England, where it faced Cincinnati Oaks from the United States, Scottish champions Boroughmuir, and Team Ziebart, which went on to win the English National Basketball League that season. KR finished third in the tournament with Christensen averaging 25.3 points per game.[10]

During his second season, he led the league in scoring with 600 points in 20 games.[11] Despite his scoring prowess, Þór was relegated at the end of the season. Shortly later, Christensen signed with Úrvalsdeild club ÍR.[12] In 20 games for ÍR, Christensen averaged 26.4 points per game.

Úrvalsdeild statistics

Season	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1977–78	Þór Akureyri	14	363	25.9
1978–79	Þór Akureyri	20	600	30.0
1979–80	ÍR	20	528	26.4
Samtals		54	1491	27.6

Coaching career

Christensen coached Þór Akureyri from 1977 to 1979, accumulating a 7–27 record. He served as an assistant coach to the Icelandic men's national basketball team during the 1980 Polar Cup championships.[13][14]

References

1. Halldor M. Rafnsson (4 October 1977). "Æfingar daglega". Íslendingur (in Icelandic). pp. 2, 7. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
2. "MBB Records – Individual Carerer (PDF)" (PDF). lopers.com. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
3. "Ontario University Athletics Historic Men's Basketball All-Stars" (PDF). oua.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
4. "Hlakka mikið til að fást við þjálfun". Vísir (in Icelandic). 5 October 1977. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
5. "Dirk Dunbar stigahæstur". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 21 March 1978. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
6. Gylfi Kristjánsson (8 April 1978). "Ég er alltaf bjartsýnn". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 21. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
7. "Heldur Þór sæti sínu". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 11 April 1978. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
8. "Þór vann Snæfell". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 18 April 1978. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
9. Gylfi Kristjánsson (4 January 1979). "Körfuknattleiksmenn KR fyrstir af stað". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 12. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
10. "KR-ingarnir í þriðja sætinu". Vísir (in Icelandic). 15 January 1979. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
11. ""Það gleymdist að segja mér frá verðbólgunni!" — segir Mark Christensen". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 22 November 1979. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
12. "Mark til ÍR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 15 May 1979. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
13. "Mark veiktist og hélt heim". Vísir (in Icelandic). 10 April 1980. p. 7. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
14. "Mark kom tll Noregs". Vísir (in Icelandic). 11 April 1980. p. 7. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

External links

• Úrvalsdeild statistics at Icelandic Basketball Association
• Profile at Wilfrid Laurier University