Score, then be scored upon

Men’s basketball has a great weekend despite picking up a loss

By Davie Wong, Sports Reporter

The saying goes, “The best defence is a good offence.” The men’s basketball team must have read that passage several hundred times on the ferry to visit Camosun. Or at least that’s what it looked like on Friday when both teams kicked off the weekend.

After a hectic first quarter, the Royals shot their way to a commanding lead in the second, managing to score a massive 32 points, and ending the half with 59 points. After that, it was all a breeze as the Royals’ shooters managed to tear apart the Camosun defence and humiliate them in their own court.

Several Douglas players had an exceptional game, with Ethan McKean topping that list, scoring 22 points and going 6 for 10 shooting threes. Dustin Popoff and Grant Campbell also had great games, scoring 15 and 16 points respectively. All in all, the Royals players combined for a season high of 101 points.

They looked to carry that momentum onwards with them as they traveled north to play the undefeated terrors of the league, the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners.

The game opened up much closer than anyone could expect. It seemed that the Royals did their homework and had the Mariners figured out, but not beaten. Both teams walked out of the first half drained, with the Royals leading by one point.

Unfortunately, the good ends there. VIU came out of their locker room a different team with a fresh strategy, and the Royals could not figure them out. Much like the first time these teams played, the Mariners jumped into an early lead in the third and absolutely crushed the Royals in the fourth.

However, it was not as bad as the score would say it was. Douglas got some very solid performances from their starters once again. Campbell, Popoff, and McKean all scored in the double digits in both games for the Royals.

Overall, it was a decent week for the team. They won by a large margin when they were expected to, and they lost in a much closer game than was originally anticipated. The split week helps them maintain their position in the standings. They hold the sixth place spot with only two points separating them from fifth, and a whole lot of room below them.