Match 9: Holland Hurricanes 100, St. Mary’s Lightning 85

The Holland Hurricanes weathered the storm to end their season on a winning note, staging a second half comeback to defeat the St. Mary’s Lightning 100-85 to claim seventh place at the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.

The ACAA champions were led by Jalen Menzies and his game-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists, while Kyree Thompson added 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds off the bench; Jack MacAulay earned player of the game honours with 15 points and eight rebounds of his own in his final game of post-secondary eligibility, while another fifth-year player in Logan Rempel added 13 points and five rebounds.

For the ACAC wildcard Lightning, Johnpaul Okodua picked up player of the game recognition with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Averie Armbrister led St. Mary’s with 20 points in his final post-secondary game, and Caleb Jipp added 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

St. Mary’s came out hot to start the game, quickly building up a 15-6 gap in the opening five minutes of the contest. The Hurricanes slowly chipped away at the lead to get back to 24-24 late, but a pair of layups from CCAA All-Canadian Brock Dewsbery in the final 30 seconds put the Lightning up 28-24 through 10 minutes of play.

The Lightning further built on that momentum over the course of the second quarter as they gradually extended their lead to double digits, eventually heading to halftime with a 54-43 lead.

However, Holland came out firing to start the third, using an 11-0 run in the opening 1:31 of the quarter to immediately pull even with the Lightning, eventually taking the lead for the first time midway through the frame. St. Mary’s found its way back late, though, taking a slim 72-70 lead into the fourth.

However, it was the Hurricanes who put their stamp on the game in the fourth quarter, immediately reclaiming the lead early in the frame and keeping it for good. A pair of Chris Druken three-pointers early on in the fourth gave the Hurricanes the lift they needed, and their momentum was punctuated by a 9-0 run spanning 2:15 to put them up double digits.

Match 10: St. Clair Saints 120, Capilano Blues 92

After winning silver a year ago, the St. Clair Saints have the chance to play for a second consecutive national medal, bouncing back from a last-second loss on Friday to defeat the Capilano Blues 120-92 to advance to tomorrow’s bronze medal match at the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.

The OCAA champion Saints were led by player of the game Jesiah Deerr, who led all scorers with 34 points coming off the bench while also adding 11 rebounds; Chad Vincent-Simon added 18 points and seven rebounds, while Terence Williams chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds.

For the PACWEST champion Blues, CCAA All-Canadian Tyrone Asenoguan led the way with 28 points and four rebounds, while player of the game David Featherston had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and CJ Campbell, playing the final game of his post-secondary career, posted 16 points and 10 boards.

After a back and forth start to the matchup, the Saints showed they were ready to play in the second half of the opening quarter, with a pair of Miles Hall three-pointers swinging the pendulum in favour of the Saints as they went on a run to end the first up 31-20.

The three-ball again proved to be deadly for the Saints in the second quarter, as they pushed their lead out as far as 22 on (three-point stats) in the quarter. However, the Blues dug their heels in from there, as they used a 14-0 run to put a significant dent into St. Clair’s lead at halftime, which stood at 59-47.

However, St. Clair found another gear in the third quarter, again building out a lead that reached as high as 26 points. Capilano briefly cut into the gap with a 9-0 run only for the Saints to push it back out again to take a 92-71 lead into the fourth quarter.

After a brief Capilano run to start the fourth, the Saints held station to put the match away, with Vincent-Simon providing an exclamation point midway through the quarter after executing an emphatic block, then going end-to-end for the layup.

Game 11: VIU Mariners, 91 George Brown Huskies 85

Akoi Yuot put on a show Saturday night, earning himself a shot at a CCCAA Men's Basketball National Championship bronze medal in the process.

Yuot scored a game-high 38 points while adding 15 rebounds to lead his VIU Mariners past the George Brown Huskies in the second bronze medal semi-final of the day.

The Mariners will meet the St. Clair Saints in Sunday’s bronze medal final. VIU’s last CCAA bronze came back in 2011 when they narrowly beat the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics 73-71.

St. Clair, who took silver in last year’s Championship, will look for back-to-back medal performances.

With Alberta champs SAIT and RSEQ champs Dawson College playing in the gold medal game, the CCAA will have four of five of the country’s conferences in attendance playing for a medal on Sunday.

After a high scoring first quarter in which the Mariners led the Huskies 29-28, the pace slowed down. By the time half came around, it was the Huskies that held a narrow 49-46 lead.

After the break, VIU’s defense was the star, holding the Huskies to just 15 points in the third as they took back the lead and never let it go.

The final quarter saw the teams trade baskets, but George Brown could not overcome the deficit.

Yuot was named the 4Imprint Player of the Game, while Derrick Taylor took the honour for George Brown after scoring 12 points and hauling down 9 rebounds.

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