Men's Saturday Basketball Rewind
The Chargers, Blues and Coyotes win on Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day on Saturday showed little love across the PACWEST men’s basketball schedule with three very exciting games.
Camosun Chargers 75
VIU Mariners 72
The Chargers pull into a first-place tie with the Mariners after a three-point win on Saturday on their home floor. David Finch hit two-free throws down the stretch to seal the deal and the weekend sweep.
Offensively they did just enough shooting 40% with four starters scoring at least 10 points, led by Finch’s 19 and six rebounds. Cormick Brown collected 16 points in the victory and Cole Belton had 13 in the balanced attack. They also got to the free-throw line an eye-popping 32 times and shot 72% which made a massive difference.
Their defence forced 22 Mariner turnovers while adding 14 steals.
The Mariners offence shot 42% but only got to the free-throw line 11 times, compared to the Chargers’ 32. Keyonte Beals led all scorers with 25 points and Kai Leighton added a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Next weekend will determine the #1 seed in men’s basketball when the Chargers (17-5) host the CBC Bearcats (7-15) and the Mariners (17-5) welcome the Douglas Royals (3-19). Regardless of the outcomes in either doubleheader, both the Chargers and Mariners have earned a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Okanagan Coyotes 87
Langara Falcons 85
What a finish!
Phil Holmes Jr. knocked down a baseline fade away shot with two seconds remaining in overtime to give the Coyotes their eighth win of the season in a thrilling finish on Saturday night in Kelowna.
The home side shot 40% from the field and jacked up 40-three point shot attempts in the victory after Noah Steingart hit two-free throws with four seconds left to force overtime. Six different players reached double figures with Brandon Porter hitting five-three pointers and finished with a team high 17-points in his final regular season game. Holmes Jr continues to be a special player dropping 16 and grabbing 12 rebounds while Kiyo Brown had 14 and 10. Oaklen Kowal came off the bench and connected on five-threes.
After Holmes Jr hit the go-ahead bucket in OT, the Falcons did have an opportunity to tie or win it, but Aaron Ungrasert came up just short of a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Falcons did shoot 44% on Saturday with Vincent Guerina and Edrielle Asirit each scoring 15 points in the setback.
With the win, the Coyotes (8-16) finish their regular season schedule and will now prepare for the championship tournament as the fifth seed.
Next weekend the Falcons (12-10) will wrap up their regular season schedule with a home-and-home with the Capilano Blues (14-8) to determine which school clinches the third seed. If the Falcons lose one of the two games, they will meet the Coyotes in a quarterfinal.
Capilano Blues 106
CBC Bearcats 75
Final game stats were not available at the time of writing.
The Blues earned the weekend sweep on Saturday night with a lopsided win at CBC. It was their 14th win of the campaign and puts them in the driver’s seat to clinch the third seed in the Conference next weekend. If they are successful, they will meet the Bearcats again in a PACWEST quarterfinal.
With the win, the Blues (14-8) have won four straight and will play a home-and-home with the Langara Falcons (12-10) next weekend. If they can win one of the two games, they will clinch the third seed.
It hasn’t been a great month of February for the Bearcats (7-15) who have lost all four games this month. With the loss, coupled with the Okanagan Coyotes overtime win, the Bearcats will be the sixth seed in the playoffs regardless of what happens next weekend when they visit the Camosun Chargers (17-5) to conclude the regular season.