Successful Trip to BC for Gaiters

This was a fantastic trip for our program. We played some great basketball, our guys had the opportunity to see one of the most stunning regions of our country, we connected with Alumni and we really started to bond as a team. 

The photos you will see on this blog are courtesy of BU alum and Athletic Wall of Distinction honoree Blair Shier who has been a tremendous supporter of our programs and everything BU! Blair sacrificed relaxing and watching the games to get us a lot of fantastic photos. Not to mention he cooked our team their pre-game meal on Saturday afternoon! Thanks again Blair!!

Mike Andrews, Ridolphe Aristil, Ryan Foster, Jamil Abiad, PK, Scott Ring

Thursday at University of Victoria

BU        16    16     9    18   -   59
UVIC    20    10    16    6   -    52

This was a pretty sloppy game from both teams...to be expected this early in October. UVIC dominated the glass early, but we were able to get some quick scores on the fastbreak to keep us in the game. After the first quarter we really locked up defensively as well holding the Vikes to 36 points in the final 30 minutes including only 6 in the final quarter. We rebounded the ball particularly well in the 4th quarter that allowed us to gain the win in the final frame. 

 

4th yr Co-captain, Jeremy Leonard-Smith

Any win on the road is a good win, but winning at UVIC is special. There is great tradition there. Plus, they are well coached and have a quality program every year. 

Jeremy Leonard-Smith led all scorers with 16 points and added 7 rebounds. Mike Andrews added 13 points with some nice moves in the post. Onnex Blackwood was our 3rd double digit scorer with 10 points.




Friday at UBC

BU       25    15    17    18   -   75
UBC    16    20    27    24   -   87

This game was closer than the final score indicates. With less than 4 minutes to go it was a one point game, but we just ran out of steam. Our conditioning was not the issue, but we had serious foul trouble that unfortunately finally caught up to us. We have limited depth at post position as 6'9 Matt McLean and 6'10 Mike Andrews each were limited to about 5-6 total minutes in the 2nd half.

Regardless, we came out strong in the 1st quarter and were not going to let UBC run us out of their gym. Next to Carleton. they have been the strongest program in the CIS for the last 10 years at least. They have the ability to blow you out quickly and not let up. With a little bit of confidence from the UVIC win we came out aggressively forcing UBC into 16 first half turnovers and beating them on the glass in the first half. UBC was able to keep in the game with their offensive transition...few teams in the CIS run like UBC does. A lot for us to learn from that both offensively and defensively. 

4th year guard Onnex Blackwood

Jeremy was outstanding scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He was fantastic all weekend and provided the toughness our team needed at key points in each game. 

Scott Ring had a complete game at the pg position scoring 11 points, grabbing 9 defensive rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. Onnex Blackwood continued his consistent offensive production scoring 11 as well. Tim Hunter was solid adding 10 points while freshman wing player Ryan Foster added 8 points. 


 
Saturday at Trinity Western University

BU       24   26   18   20   -   88
TWU    23   21   22   15   -   81

Trinity Western may not be the most familiar name to some of you as they have only been in the CIS for about 10 years or so. However, they were in the CIS final 2 years ago and are traditionally a strong program. So, we knew this was going to be no easy game. Especially since this was our 3rd game in 3 days and they had the opportunity to scout us the previous 2 days.

Defensively we struggled a bit in this game, but fortunately we did not have too much trouble scoring. We had a double digit lead in the 3rd quarter, but failed to put TWU away when we had the chance. We did not lockdown defensively and we did not take care of the ball...bad combination to say the least! 

3rd year guard Patrik 'PK' Kabongo

With about 5:30 left in the game we found ourselves down 78 - 68. From their we defended well and started to take care of the ball! We executed well down the stretch and finished the game on a 20-3 run. I really think fatigue played a part in our loss of focus when TWU made their run over the course of the late 3rd and early 4th Q, but I was really pleased our guys battled and regained their poise to finish the game so strongly. 

We had incredible offensive balance this game with 6 players in double digits and a 7th player with 9 points. Tim & Jeremy each had 14 points with Jeremy snaring 12 rebounds. Mike, Onnex & Matt McLean each had 11 points while Scott Ring added 10 points. Freshman Ryan Foster continues to impress as he contributed 9 points connecting on 3 of 4 three point attempts.