The 2010-11 team finished the KCAC tied for second place with an 11-7 mark in conference play, and earned the two-seed in the KCAC postseason tournament.  

"In 2010-11, I felt we had the talent but it took a while to put things together," Swartzendruber said.  "The glue on that team was Trent Severs.  Trent had transferred to McPherson after I accepted the head coaching position so he had been part of the program for three years.  His leadership and grit were intangibles that were consistent throughout the year."

The Bulldogs advanced past Southwestern (83-68) before taking down third-seeded Bethany 77-51 to advance to the KCAC Championship in its first season at Hartman Arena. However, the regular season champion Sterling College Warriors clipped the Bulldogs 77-62.

As the second place team in the league, the Bulldogs advanced to the NAIA Division II National Championships for the first time since 1938, and got hot at the right time. 20 points from Samson Shivers helped MC move on to the second round past sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle University, then a balanced attack sent the Bulldogs to the Quarterfinals for the first time in school history, knocking off Warner Pacific College.

Unfortunately the run for the Bulldogs would end there, falling to third-ranked Cornerstone University.

"After beating Embry-Riddle in the first round, our team was full of confidence and defeating Warner University in the next round was thrilling.  Beating two nationally ranked teams was amazing and it felt like we not only earned respect for our program, but for the KCAC.  We lost to an extremely talented Cornerstone University team in the Elite Eight but what an incredible season."