Up and down week for men’s basketball
By Davie Wong, Sports Reporter
It was always going to be a hard week for the men, no matter how it was looked at. Coming into the week fresh off a hard loss to VIU, the men looked to bounce back on Friday against the third best team, the Langara Falcons.
With near mirror-like scoring, the first quarter was filled with action as no one side could seem to find an edge. But while the scoring was similar, the method wasn’t, as both teams played their own styles of offence. The Falcons preferred to drive, causing the Royals to either take a foul, or give them a clean shot, while the Royals preferred to shoot from the outside. With shooting stars Grant Campbell and Ethan McKean sinking shots left and right, the Royals soon found themselves with a slight lead going into the second quarter.
It would be a buffer that they would need as the Falcons came out strong in the second. Douglas had trouble dealing with the constant driving and gave away free throws the entire quarter. They would also give away their lead, falling behind by two points going into halftime.
The second half was very similar to the first, as the Falcons could not for the life of them stop Campbell. Every time the Falcons scored, it was Campbell back down the court to get it right back.
It was tooth and nail until the end, but at the finish it was the Royals who were ahead, 72-68. Campbell ended the game with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Another player who had a noteworthy night was rookie Sheldon Derton, who finished with 14 points in 13 minutes of game time.
With that game out of the way, the team could now focus on the next challenger: the Quest Kermodes. Whether the preparation for the Kermodes was insufficient or the team underestimated them, the results of Saturday’s game was not pretty.
To put it simply, the Royals got rolled. The Kermodes came out to play, and there was little the Royals could do to stop them. The away team stamped their game all over the home team’s court and the Royals were powerless to stop them. The first half saw the Royals struggle to put up points as turnover after turnover cost them dearly.
The second half consisted of the Kermodes simply outscoring the Royals. There were no dirty tricks, no trick plays, or secret strategies, the Royals just got outplayed. The final score was 90-55 Quest.
