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 Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

in Nebraska.

College career

Christensen attendted Kearney State College from 1971 to 1975 where he scored 1,070 points over four seasons. 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.

Professional career

In 1977, Christensen was hired as a player-coach with Þór Akureyri. 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. 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. Þór won both games with Christensen scoring 31 and 28 points in the outings. In January 1979, Christensen was loaned to KR to participate international tournament in England, where it faced

Cincinnati Oaks Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

from the United States, Scottish champions

Boroughmuir Boroughmuir RFC is a rugby union football club in the Scottish Rugby Union. The club's home ground is Meggetland, in southwest Edinburgh and the club plays in the , where they are known as the Boroughmuir Bears. Founded in 1919 and admitted to ...

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

Úrvalsdeild statistics

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.

References

External links

Úrvalsdeild statistics
at Icelandic Basketball Association
Profile
at Wilfrid Laurier University {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Mark 1955 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) ÍR men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) coaches Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players Þór Akureyri men's basketball players