Men's Basketball Wraps Up
The Chargers, Mariners and Blues earn the hometown sweep
The men’s basketball regular season ended on Saturday with three games that finally solidified the playoff picture.
Camosun Chargers 80
CBC Bearcats 67
For the first time in school history, the Chargers are the #1 seed heading into the PACWEST championship tournament after a 13-point win on Saturday over the visiting Bearcats.
The offence shot 43% from the field and outscored the Bearcats 23-14 in the final quarter to lock in the win. Four of their starters reached the double-digit plateau with David Finch leading the way with 17 points and nine rebounds. Both Cormick Brown and Thomas Beames each chipped in with 13 points. As the #1 seed the Chargers (19-5) will have a bye into the semifinals at the PACWEST championships, which they are also hosting in a couple of weeks.
On the Bearcats (7-17) side of things, they shot 35% from the field and Dane-Dre Anglin tallied a game high 21 points. It’s been a tough stretch for the ‘Cats in the month of February, losing all six games and will no doubt be happy when the calendar turns to March for their next game. As the sixth seed, they will face the third seeded Capilano Blues on March 5th in a playoff quarterfinal.
VIU Mariners 103
Douglas Royals 66
The Mariners will finish as the second seed following their lopsided victory on Saturday. Their 19 wins on the campaign is the same number of the #1 Camosun Chargers, but their island rivals owned the tiebreaker forcing the Mariners to the second seed.
On Saturday they shot 56% and knocked down 11-three pointers in the route. Winston Cole caught fire, dropping a game high 32 points on 11-19 shooting and connected on three-three pointers. Teammate Keyonte Beals was also outstanding with 24 points, six buckets from downtown and 9-12 from the field.
The Royals (3-21) played their final game of the year and will miss the postseason. They shot 38%, led by Lorenzo Bonamin’s 16 points and Derrick Monroe’s 15 in what could be his final PACWEST game.
Capilano Blues 72
Langara Falcons 68
The Blues scored 24 points in the final frame and held on for the Saturday night victory to close the regular season.
Overall, the home side shot 38% but struggled from downtown. For the second straight night, Zach Klim took advantage in the paint with a team high 22 points and 14 rebounds on 50% shooting. In his final home game, Kash Lang added 14 points but was an uncharacteristic 0-5 from the three-point line.
The Falcons didn’t have their best shooting game at 27% but kept themselves close throughout the game and had a chance to win. James Zongo came off the bench for a team high 16 points and Edrielle Asirit added 12 in their 12th loss of the campaign.
In two weeks the Blues (16-8) will meet the CBC Bearcats in a playoff quarterfinal while the 500 Falcons (12-12), as the fourth seed locked up with the #5 Okanagan Coyotes in the other quarterfinal.