Men's Basketball
April 2, 2013
Kwantlen Eagles Men's Basketball Identification Camp
April 6, 2013
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Men's Basketball Program is pleased to announce the dates and times for their 2013 Identification camp for potential student-athletes in grade 11, 12 or high school graduates who are committed to pursuing post-secondary studies while participating on a varsity team.
The purpose of the camp is to provide a venue for athletes interested in post-secondary basketball to showcase themselves, and to receive feedback relative to the current Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) basketball standards.
Camp Session
The basketball session will be held at Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey Campus (main gym). Players are requested to bring full basketball training gear as well as a full water-bottle. Change rooms will be provided for each session.
Athletes must arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of each session.
SESSION DETAILS:
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013
Location: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Main Gym (12666 72nd Avenue, Surrey)
Time: 2pm - 5:30pm
The Eagles Men's Basketball ID Camp has taken place. Should you still be interested in the Eagles Men's Basketball team and program please fill out a recruitment form by clicking here.
February 18, 2013
Eagles Men’s Basketball Remain Positive Despite No Post Season
(Metro Vancouver) - The Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) men’s basketball team had everything to gain this past weekend when they boarded the ferry to Vancouver Island on Friday, February 15. With two games left remaining against the 5th ranked Camosun Chargers (7W-12L) on Friday, February 15 and 2nd ranked Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners (14W-5L) on Saturday, February 16. The Eagles faced a must-win situation for both games, for the chance to return to the Island again on February 28 for the 2012-13 PACWEST Basketball Championships.
On Friday night against the Chargers, the pressure to win brought a heightened sense of intensity from the Eagles, but they were unable to match the Chargers offense, and trailed by 10 points (34-48) at half time. Heading into the 3rd quarter, the Eagles picked up momentum with their defense allowing the Chargers to score six points, and completing the quarter with a 2 point lead (56-54). The 4th quarter was a battle of defense between both teams, with multiple lead changes. During the fourth the Eagles missed some key baskets and started to see their provincial hopes fade as the Chargers clawed back down a point. A game-changing basket by Ali Bosir (Surrey) with 2 minutes remaining brought flight back into the Eagles game to go up three, 67-64. At the end of the fourth the game was tied 69-69 sending it into extra time. After trading buckets, the Eagles offense took charge and won OT by doubling the Chargers’ points 14-7, for a final score of 83-76.
Second-year guard Aaron Ram (Surrey) led the Eagles in points, collecting 27 points and 4 rebounds. Ram was closely followed by second-year guard Jagbir Takhar (Surrey), with 21 points and 5 rebounds and fourth-year centre Ali Bosir (Surrey) who added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles win. Second-year forward Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford) also posted 13 points and 9 rebounds.
On Saturday afternoon, the Eagles faced a tough, physical defense and explosive offense from the 2nd placed Mariners. With their second must-win game on the line, the Eagles battled hard to try and penetrate the Mariners defense, but the strict defense as no match for the tied Eagles offense. At half-time, the Mariners led 27-51 and they [Mariners] continued their offensive surge to put an additional 52 points on the boards in the second half. The final score was 68-103 for the Mariners, which put an end to the Eagles’ hopes of a post-season.
Second-year guard Aaron Ram (Surrey) led the Eagles in points, collecting 18 points and 2 rebounds. Fourth-year centre Ali Bosir (Surrey) added 13 points and 9 rebounds and Jagbir Takhar (Surrey) posted 11 points and 1 rebound to the Eagles total.
“I really liked the focus we had going on the island trip”, commented head coach, Stefon Wilson. “We knew we had to win both games to receive a playoff berth. We had a good team win on Friday night, but we ran up against a really good team in VIU on Saturday.”
With only six teams advancing to the post-season, the Eagles’ 7th place finish (7W-14L) with 14 points accumulated, was not enough for them to advance. However, according to Wilson, he’s already got his sights set on next year. “I am excited for this off-season to train and come back stronger next season”, said Wilson.
February 12, 2013
Men's Eagles Defeat Royals in Final Home Game
(Metro Vancouver) - The Men’s Eagles (6W-13L) welcomed the home stretch of the 2012-2013 PACWEST season by hosting their final home games this past weekend with the 1st place Langara College Falcons (18W-1L) on Friday, February 8th and the 4th place Douglas College Royals (8W-11L) on Saturday, February 9th.
On Friday, the Eagles battled hard against the 1st place Falcons, holding the Falcons to only a 9-point deficit (34-43) at the half. However, the Eagles found themselves with some difficulty on the offense by allowing 26 turnovers, putting them in a state of catch-up throughout the four quarters. The Eagles led in free throw accuracy (59% to the Falcons’ 50%) but could not match the Falcons’ ability to hit the threes. The end result was a loss and a final score of 75 – 100. Second-year forward, Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford), led the Eagles with 19 points off the board due, in part, to a monster fourth quarter. Gruenthaler also added 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Following closely behind was fourth-year centre, Ali Bosir (Surrey), who collected 16 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal along with adding another 16 rebounds to his tally. Second-year forward, Nii Engmann (Surrey), posted 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.
Said Head Coach, Stefon Wilson, of the loss, “When playing a team as talented as Langara, you cannot have 26 turnovers. I liked the effort and thought that we played hard but we will have to play a lot smarter in our final three games”.
On Saturday, the Eagles’ faced their cross-river rivals, the Douglas College Royals, for the final match-up between the two teams of the season. Knowing the intensity that the game would bring, the Eagles came out determined to finish strong. The Eagles led marginally at the half with a score of 39-33 but the Eagles defense was strong in this showing and defeated the Royals 80-65. With five tied scores in the game, the Eagles were able to hold their leads into the final buzzer with help from their vast ability to out-shoot the Royals in 3-pointers (41% to the Royals’ 11%). Second-year guard, Aaron Ram (Surrey), was the top Eagle in points with 24 to go along with his 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Bosir put up another 16 points, 3 assists, 6 steals, and a massive 21 rebounds (37 for the weekend) to solidify his control of top spot on the PACWEST Leader Board in rebounds. Engmann contributed 15 points to the Eagles win with 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Gruenthaler rounded out the Eagles’ double-digits with an additional 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 steal in his 36-minutes of play.
“I knew this rival game would be very intense,” said Coach Wilson. “I just wanted my guys to use this energy in a positive way. We defended and rebounded the ball very well and I was very happy to get a win on the last home game of the season.”
The Eagles head into the final weekend of regular league games for the 2012-2013 season in 8th place in the PACWEST standings. The Eagles will face the 6th place Camosun College Chargers (7W-12L) on Friday, February 15th and the 2nd place Vancouver Island Mariners (14W-5L) on Saturday, February 16th. The Men’s game will begin at 8pm at Camosun and at 3pm at VIU.
February 4, 2013
Men's Eagles Continue Final Push of Season
(Metro Vancouver) - In the second week of hosting and Week 10 in PACWEST Conference action, the Men’s Eagles (5W-12L) welcomed 6th place Capilano University Blues (6W-11L) on Friday, February 1st and 3rd place Quest University Kermodes (8W-9L) on Saturday, February 2nd for their final meetings in the regular season.
On Friday, the Eagles came out strong against their North Vancouver rivals, the Capilano Blues, going point-for-point in the first half. But, it was the second quarter where the Eagles began to pull away garnering 31 points to the Blues’ 24 to finish the half 54 – 43. With another massive [third] quarter, the Eagles solidified their lead despite being out-shot in the fourth, to defeat the Blues, 104 – 95. Second-year guard, Aaron Ram (Surrey), had a monster game putting up 34 points (6 of 10 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line), 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Fourth-year centre, Ali Bosir (Surrey), contributed with 23 points, 9 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and tallied an additional 22 rebounds to his already massive stats in total rebounds for the season. The Eagles put on a clinic against the Blues when second-year forward, Nii Engmann (Surrey), notched an additional 22 points on the board with 5 rebounds and 1 steal.
On Saturday, against the Quest Kermodes, the Eagles ran the ball with purpose out-playing the Kermodes to go up 51 – 40 at the half and holding the Kermodes to 14 points in the second quarter to the Eagles’ 24 points. Despite Ram and second-year forward, Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford), fouling out, the Eagles continued to press the Kermodes through three quarters but could not hold on to that steam in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Quest out-shot the Eagles 38 to 14 to take the win with a final score of 87 – 102 at the buzzer. Bosir put up 31 points on the board with an astonishing 93% accuracy in free throws (13 of 14) along with capturing another 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. Engmann collected another 17 points on the weekend with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals while second-year guard, Jag Takhar (Surrey), put up 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
“Out of the 8 quarters this weekend, we played very well in 7 of them,” said Head Coach, Stefon Wilson. “The intensity and effort was very good this weekend. I was happy to see my guys get a win on Friday. Two more weekends left and we will continue to play hard all the way to the finish.”
After Week 10, the Eagles remain in 8th place in the PACWEST standings with a 5W and 12L record. The Eagles will host their final two home games this weekend welcoming the 1st placed Langara College Falcons (16W-1L) on Friday, February 8th and the 4th place Douglas College Royals (7W-10L) on Saturday, February 9th. Tip-off for both games is 8:00pm.
