Huskies take bite out of Kings
Keyano completed a large comeback against Red Deer in the first consolation round game at the CORA 2018 ACAC Men's Basketball Championships.
March 2, 2018 - After narrowly missing a huge come-from-behind victory, the Keyano Huskies weren’t going to be denied again in the first consolation game of the Cora Breakfast and Lunch 2018 ACAC Men’s Basketball Championships in Lethbridge. Keyano (15-11) were down early but stormed back for an 89-80 victory over the Red Deer College Kings (14-9) to earn a spot in Saturday’s fifth-place game.
The Kings, ranked 13th in the CCAA national rankings and third in the south division, were crushing threes in the first quarter, including three in a row by Solon Ellis (third year, Business Administration General, St. Paul, Min.), to build a 24-15 lead after ten minutes. But the Huskies, who trailed by 22 at one point in their quarterfinal match-up with SAIT on Friday, before storming back to force overtime, once again had a large comeback up their sleeves. A 12-2 run in just two and a half minutes late in the half, and a Jo Michel (fourth year, Social Work, Montreal) dunk helped Keyano to a 39-37 half time lead.
The decisive stretch in the game came early in the third quarter, where the Huskies scored 13 straight points to build a lead they would never relinquish. Michel, an ACAC all-conference second team selection, led the Huskies charge with 13 of his game-high 29 points coming in the second quarter. Chris Oppong (fourth year, Education Assistant, Toronto) added 19 points for the Huskies, while Ellis led the Kings with 18 points.
Keyano moves on to play the winner of the Lethbridge – Medicine Hat match-up in the ACAC fifth-place game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Kings season has come to an end.
Players of the game:
Red Deer - #7 Solon Ellis (18pts, 4 3pt, 4reb)
Keyano - #11 Chris Oppong (19pts, 8ast)