Opening woes

Men’s basketball drops both games at home

By Davie Wong, Sports Reporter

Being down 0-3 is not what any team wants. Unfortunately, after a rough week two at home, that is where the men’s basketball team finds itself. The men played back-to-back home games this weekend against VIU and Camosun.

The action started on Friday evening as the visiting VIU team looked to improve to 2-0. The game was off to a rapid start as the Royals quickly built momentum off of the home crowd, making stellar defensive plays on their end and cashing in offensively. VIU came back in the second quarter showing signs of life, catching the Royals off guard slightly. At the end of the first half, the Royals held a 5-point lead over VIU, with 2 Royals players shooting for 10 points.

The lead was short lived however, as VIU came out of their locker rooms determined to dictate the second half. They walked all over the Royals in the third quarter, shooting 18 points and forcing the Royals into a defensive position. The fourth quarter consisted of lacklustre defense as desperation from both sides kicked in. However at the end of the game, it was VIU that came out on top, outscoring the Royals 79-71. Five Mariners managed to shoot for more than 10 points on the stiff defence of the Royals. Only 3 DC players shot for more than 10 points in that game.

Saturday brought new hope as the Camosun Chargers came into town to play. Unfortunately for the Royals, that hope was swiftly dashed. The game started off poorly for the Royals as Camosun came out and charged ahead. They forced the shaken Royals squad to make bad mistakes both offensively and defensively. A total of 26 points were scored by Camosun in the first quarter alone while the Royals were kept to 13. The second quarter was much more structured and less frenzied as the Royals kept Camosun to 15 points while outscoring them by 1 point in an attempt to crawl back into the game.

The second half of the game was much better for the Royals. They showed excellent form and composure on the court. This was especially evident in the fourth quarter when the team rallied. Unfortunately, they came short of a comeback and fell to Camosun with a final score of 79-72.

Overall, the team showed signs of brilliance over the weekend, but couldn’t put it all together to come out with wins. Head coach Denis Beausoleil thought that defensive rebounding was a big part of the team’s losses. “We completely got our asses handed to us on the glass.” The team was below 50 percent in defensive rebounding in the first game, and a little bit over 50 percent in the second game. For a squad whose offence is based off scoring on the transition; that percentage in defensive rebounding is something they must fix.

Being down 0-3 to start a season can be tough for any team to overcome. But Beausoleil believes that his team can bounce back from this and still be a legitimate contender in the conference. “We have had worse starting records in years past with less talent and still made playoffs in years past. We are going keep working hard to improve and I know that we will. We have done it every single year.”

The men look to bounce back next week as they take on as they take on Quest (November 13) and Langara (November 14) in back-to-back games at home. Games start at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.