(Metro Vancouver) - The Men’s Eagles (6W-13L) welcomed the home stretch of the 2012-2013 PACWEST season by hosting their final home games this past weekend with the 1st place Langara College Falcons (18W-1L) on Friday, February 8th and the 4th place Douglas College Royals (8W-11L) on Saturday, February 9th.
On Friday, the Eagles battled hard against the 1st place Falcons, holding the Falcons to only a 9-point deficit (34-43) at the half. However, the Eagles found themselves with some difficulty on the offense by allowing 26 turnovers, putting them in a state of catch-up throughout the four quarters. The Eagles led in free throw accuracy (59% to the Falcons’ 50%) but could not match the Falcons’ ability to hit the threes. The end result was a loss and a final score of 75 – 100. Second-year forward, Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford), led the Eagles with 19 points off the board due, in part, to a monster fourth quarter. Gruenthaler also added 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Following closely behind was fourth-year centre, Ali Bosir (Surrey), who collected 16 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal along with adding another 16 rebounds to his tally. Second-year forward, Nii Engmann (Surrey), posted 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.
Said Head Coach, Stefon Wilson, of the loss, “When playing a team as talented as Langara, you cannot have 26 turnovers. I liked the effort and thought that we played hard but we will have to play a lot smarter in our final three games”.
On Saturday, the Eagles’ faced their cross-river rivals, the Douglas College Royals, for the final match-up between the two teams of the season. Knowing the intensity that the game would bring, the Eagles came out determined to finish strong. The Eagles led marginally at the half with a score of 39-33 but the Eagles defense was strong in this showing and defeated the Royals 80-65. With five tied scores in the game, the Eagles were able to hold their leads into the final buzzer with help from their vast ability to out-shoot the Royals in 3-pointers (41% to the Royals’ 11%). Second-year guard, Aaron Ram (Surrey), was the top Eagle in points with 24 to go along with his 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Bosir put up another 16 points, 3 assists, 6 steals, and a massive 21 rebounds (37 for the weekend) to solidify his control of top spot on the PACWEST Leader Board in rebounds. Engmann contributed 15 points to the Eagles win with 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Gruenthaler rounded out the Eagles’ double-digits with an additional 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 steal in his 36-minutes of play.
“I knew this rival game would be very intense,” said Coach Wilson. “I just wanted my guys to use this energy in a positive way. We defended and rebounded the ball very well and I was very happy to get a win on the last home game of the season.”
The Eagles head into the final weekend of regular league games for the 2012-2013 season in 8th place in the PACWEST standings. The Eagles will face the 6th place Camosun College Chargers (7W-12L) on Friday, February 15th and the 2nd place Vancouver Island Mariners (14W-5L) on Saturday, February 16th. The Men’s game will begin at 8pm at Camosun and at 3pm at VIU.