(Metro Vancouver) - In the second week of hosting and Week 10 in PACWEST Conference action, the Men’s Eagles (5W-12L) welcomed 6th place Capilano University Blues (6W-11L) on Friday, February 1stand 3rd place Quest University Kermodes (8W-9L) on Saturday, February 2nd for their final meetings in the regular season.
On Friday, the Eagles came out strong against their North Vancouver rivals, the Capilano Blues, going point-for-point in the first half. But, it was the second quarter where the Eagles began to pull away garnering 31 points to the Blues’ 24 to finish the half 54 – 43. With another massive [third] quarter, the Eagles solidified their lead despite being out-shot in the fourth, to defeat the Blues, 104 – 95. Second-year guard, Aaron Ram (Surrey), had a monster game putting up 34 points (6 of 10 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line), 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Fourth-year centre, Ali Bosir(Surrey), contributed with 23 points, 9 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and tallied an additional 22 rebounds to his already massive stats in total rebounds for the season. The Eagles put on a clinic against the Blues when second-year forward, Nii Engmann (Surrey), notched an additional 22 points on the board with 5 rebounds and 1 steal.
On Saturday, against the Quest Kermodes, the Eagles ran the ball with purpose out-playing the Kermodes to go up 51 – 40 at the half and holding the Kermodes to 14 points in the second quarter to the Eagles’ 24 points. Despite Ram and second-year forward, Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford), fouling out, the Eagles continued to press the Kermodes through three quarters but could not hold on to that steam in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Quest out-shot the Eagles 38 to 14 to take the win with a final score of 87 – 102 at the buzzer. Bosir put up 31 points on the board with an astonishing 93% accuracy in free throws (13 of 14) along with capturing another 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. Engmann collected another 17 points on the weekend with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals while second-year guard, Jag Takhar (Surrey), put up 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
“Out of the 8 quarters this weekend, we played very well in 7 of them,” said Head Coach, Stefon Wilson. “The intensity and effort was very good this weekend. I was happy to see my guys get a win on Friday. Two more weekends left and we will continue to play hard all the way to the finish.”
After Week 10, the Eagles remain in 8th place in the PACWEST standings with a 5W and 12L record. The Eagles will host their final two home games this weekend welcoming the 1st placed Langara College Falcons (16W-1L) on Friday, February 8th and the 4th place Douglas College Royals (7W-10L) on Saturday, February 9th. Tip-off for both games is 8:00pm.