Mariners and Bruins to battle for CCAA gold
Match 5: Humber Hawks 90, SAIT Trojans 82
The Humber Hawks kept their medal hopes alive with a 90-82 victory over the SAIT Trojans on day two of the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.
Humber, the wild-card entry from the OCAA, raced out to a 15-5 lead but the ACAC champion Trojans battled back, leading by as many as seven points in the second quarter. The back-and-forth game continued with the Hawks up 42-35 at the half and Humber never trailed in the second half.
The lead was down to four points with 10 minutes to play and the Trojans trimmed the lead to two points with 6:55 to play and then twice were a three-pointer away from knotting the score, once with 4:04 to play and again with 2:30 remaining on the clock.
But the fourth quarter was the Hawks best-shooting quarter of the game, connecting on 9 of 16 field goals (56.3 per cent). For the game, Humber shot 44.2 per cent (34-for-77). The Trojans took the same amount of field goals and made just two less (41.6 per cent) but the Hawks ability to get to the line paid dividends, as they sunk 14 of 22 from the charity stripe compared to SAIT’s 8-for-13.
The 4 Imprint Player of the Game Awards went to DeQuon Cascart (Humber) and Charlie Conner (SAIT).
Cascart had 18 points, six rebounds and three assists while Jaylen Morgan had a team-high 20 points for the Hawks. Conner led all scorers with 24 points while grabbing nine rebounds and five assists and Ian Tevis had 18.
Match 6: Nomades de Montmorency 98, Langara Falcons 92
Their shooting was superb, but the only problem was they didn’t shoot it enough. And with that, the host Langara Falcons are out of medal contention and will instead play in the 7th/8th place game.
The Falcons made more than half their field goal attempts (52.3 per cent), including 11-for-25 from beyond the arc (44 per cent) but the team only attempted 65 shots, compared to the 91 field goals launched by the Nomades de Montmorency, who made 40 of them in a 98-92 victory.
An entertaining opening quarter saw the teams combine for 54 points and five lead changes with the Nomades taking a slim 29-25 lead. Montmorency seized control in the second quarter, thanks to a 31-15 advantage over that 10-minute span. To the Falcons credit, they battled back, cutting the lead to 11 after three quarters and then pulling to within four points, 96-92, in the latter stages, before seeing their comeback bid end.
The Nomades held a 45-34 rebounding advantage, outscored the Falcons 22-4 off second chance points and 27-12 off turnovers.
Elie Karojo earned the 4 Imprint Player of the Game Award for Montmorency after a 35-point, 17-rebound effort. The CCAA All-Canadian also had four assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Blondeau Tchoukuiegno scored 16 points and Mcfadden Jean came off the bench to score 10.
The Falcons were led by Royce Sargeant’s 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Drake Downer, Langara’s 4 Imprint Player of the Game, scored 28 points while going 7-for-11 from the three-point line. Grant Galbraith had four blocks to go along with eight points and six rebounds for Langara.
Match 7: VIU Mariners 85, Vanier Cheetahs 83
A second straight game staring at a double-digit deficit? No problem for the VIU Mariners.
The Mariners were down by 19 points to the Vanier Cheetahs in the third quarter of the semifinals of the 2019 CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship before completing a stunning rally for the 85-83 victory.
Dating back to the PACWEST gold medal game – when they tied the score with 1.2 seconds to play and then prevailed in overtime – this marked the third straight improbable victory for the Nanaimo squad.
In Thursday’s quarter-finals, the Mariners were down 15 before flipping the script and winning by 18 while Friday’s finish was much more dramatic.
The Mariners closed the third quarter on a 17-8 run, cutting the deficit to 10 points with a period to go before finally taking their first lead at 79-78. And after the Cheetahs responded with a basket of their own, Cameron Gay drilled a three-pointer at one end while Landon Radliff came up with his seventh steal of the game at the other end, cementing the Mariners lead for good.
Radliff scored a game-high 29 points while also grabbing eight rebounds, seven steals and six assists to earn his team’s 4 Imprint Player of the Game Award. Gay and Tyus Barfoot both had 16 points and 12 and eight rebounds, respectively.
For Vanier, Abdou Karim Maine earned the 4 Imprint Player of the Game following a 14-point, seven-rebound performance.
Match 8: Sheridan Bruins 107, Holland Hurricanes 96
The Sheridan Bruins started quickly and then finished strongly, and now will play for the national championship.
The Bruins roared out of the gates with a 16-0 run over the Holland Hurricanes in Friday’s late semifinal at the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship at Langley Events Centre, and while the advantage was short-lived – it was down to a four-point lead after one quarter – the tone was set in what would become a 107-96 victory.
While the Hurricanes battered their opponents on their way to a 21-0 league record, winning by an average score of 110-79, the Bruins were not even the top team in their own division during the regular season, finishing 19-5 for second spot in their division before rallying to win the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association title.
In fact, the Bruins lost two of their last three regular season games, including one to a non-playoff opponent. But the steady level of competition pays dividends for times like Friday’s semifinal. And the key has been a constant attacking mentality, continuously pushing the ball up the court and playing a relentless attacking style.
In Friday’s semifinal, the Hurricanes shook off that early 16-0 hole to lead 52-46 at the half and the teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 73. The Bruins held a slim one-point lead with four minutes to go before closing on a 19-9 run, which included sinking seven of 10 free throws over that final stretch.
Kahleek Bakari-Whyte was the 4 Imprint Player of the Game for the Bruins, scoring 30 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. His teammate Nick Campbell was the game’s high scorer with 32 points and combined the duo was 9-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Travis Adams came off the bench to lead the Hurricanes with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Martin Campbell and Roosevelt Whyley added 20 points apiece with Whyley (who also had 13 rebounds) earning his team’s 4 Imprint Player of the Game Award.
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