The Kodiak men’s basketball team had a great weekend, winning both games at home against Briercrest College.
Friday’s Kodiaks had a strong offensive game going but were lacking in defense. This allowed Briercrest to momentarily get back in the game at the start of the forth quarter, after being down 17 points in the second. The Kodiaks took control in the end and went on a scoring spree finishing the game 114-87. Josh Watson was the Kodiaks’ player of the game with 17 points and four rebounds.
Saturday, the Kodiaks came into the game with a more defensive plan, defeating Briercrest by 29 points. The game ended with the Kodiaks winning 86-57, reflecting the defensive stance of this game.
The Kodiaks’ player of the game Saturday was Redmond Crowfoot, with 16 points and seven rebounds.
“We came in with high pressure defense,” captain Logan Mendenhall, who had 23 points in Saturday’s game, said. “We feel really confident in our offence, so it really just starts with our defense.”
Mendenhall added that the team is finally getting its depth back after much of the team has been down with the flu.
“We had six guys out with the flu and it’s nice to have everybody on the bench now.”
The team has been struggling so far in the season with a 0-4 record before this weekend.
“This is the first game we’ve come and played with our whole team,” Redmond Crowfoot said. “It just felt good to play as a team again and do what we can do.”
“We haven’t had 14 guys at practice since the first week of September,” Kodiaks coach Mike Hanson said. “We’re a little frustrated with that; we’re trying to get healthy and get back on track.”
“We spent the week just really focusing on the defensive end of things. I thought we shot the ball better yesterday but defensively we were better today… That’s how we’re going to have to play if we’re going to have success against SAIT, Mount Royal or Red Deer, so we’ve got to build on that.”
Next up the Kodiaks will be putting themselves to the test against SAIT in Calgary on Friday and at home in Lethbridge on Saturday.