Men's Basketball
January 30, 2012
Eagles Men Win Back-to-Back Home Games
METRO VANCOUVER, BC – (January 30, 2012) – The Kwantlen Eagles Men and Women played host for the second straight weekend to their rivals from north of the Burrard Inlet playing Quest University on Friday, January 27th and Capilano University on Saturday, January 28th.
In a weekend filled with anxiety, the Eagles Men needed two wins in order to stay in contention for a play-off berth and in two hotly contested games, which is exactly what the Eagles did. On Friday, the Eagles led in points thru three quarters only conceding total point allocation to the Quest Kermodes in the fourth but it still was not enough for the Spirit Bears as the Eagles soared to a 82 – 76 victory. Leading the team, third-year center Ali Bosir (Surrey) tallied 19 points and 6 rebounds followed closely by third-year forward, Varinder Singh (Delta) with 18 points. Rounding out the team with double digits were first-year guard Aaron Ram (Surrey) with 12 points and second-year guard Mark Mitchell (Toronto, ON) with 11 points. First-year guard, Tanaad Insaniye’s (Surrey) three-pointer in the final second of the third quarter gave the Eagles momentum going into the final ten minutes and combined with first-year point guard Chris Arcangel (Toronto, ON) hitting five of six free throws in the dying seconds of the game helped clinch the win.
On Saturday, the Eagles continued their tight playing leading in points throughout most of the game faltering only in the third quarter with a total of seven points collected against the Capilano University Blues. Despite fouling out in the final minutes of the game, first year point guard Chris Arcangel (Toronto, ON) racked up 18 points to share the high scoring with teammate and first-year guard Aaron Ram (Surrey) also with 18 points. First-year forward, Tristan Gruenthaler (Abbotsford) led the team with 8 rebounds and 7 assists. The fourth quarter was jam packed with high intensity and anxiety with the Eagles trailing slightly as third-year center, Ali Bosir (Surrey) sank a three-pointer followed by second-year guard Mark Mitchell (Toronto, ON) hitting two clutch free throws in the final minutes of the game to pull ahead and steal the win with a 71 - 69 score. Reminiscing on the weekend, Head Coach Stefon Wilson commented, “This weekend was very important for us. We knew that we would have two hard battles both Friday and Saturday. I am very proud of my players for stepping up to the challenge. We played with a lot of energy on defense and made some big shots on offense.”
After Week 7 action, the Eagles Men remain in 7th place but still in contention for claiming a play-off spot. The Eagles look forward to continuing to improve their records this weekend hosting Douglas College on Friday, February 3rd (tip-offs: Women @ 6:00pm and Men @ 8:00pm) and then travelling to Columbia Bible College on Saturday, February 4th.
Complete game results can be found at: www.kwantlen.ca/eagles
January 23, 2012
Island Rivals Victorious over Eagles in Home Weekend Games
METRO VANCOUVER, BC – (January 23, 2012) – In the first of a long stretch of home games for the Eagles, Kwantlen Polytechnic University played host to, and battled hard against, both their Vancouver Island rivals in the PACWEST Conference with games against the VIU Mariners on Friday, January 20th and the Camosun College Chargers on Saturday, January 21st.
The Men’s Eagles fought hard against the VIU Mariners and were down 36 - 38 at the half in a very closely contested game. The third quarter continued this trend as the Eagles were only down by 5 points, however, the Mariners increased their lead in the fourth with a number of free throws to finish the game with an 84 – 72 win over the Eagles. The Eagles rallied hard and had four athletes in double digit scoring throughout the match. Second-year guard, Mark Mitchell (Toronto, ON) led with 16 points; first-year guard, Aaron Ram (Surrey) followed closely with 15 points; third-year forward, Varinder Singh (Delta), had 12 points; and first-year point guard, Chris Arcangel (Toronto, ON), rounded out the team with 11 points. Singh also led the team with 10 assists and 5 rebounds.
On Saturday, January 21st, the Eagles welcomed the Camosun College Chargers for another hotly contested match. With a slow start, the Eagles rallied back to lead the Chargers 29 – 28 going into the half. Despite a strong third quarter, the Eagles faltered in the fourth allowing the Chargers to take the lead with the aid of 14 opportunities at the free throw line to win the game 77 – 66. The Eagles saw two athletes in double digits with Chris Arcangel (Toronto, ON) leading with 14 points and Varinder Singh (Delta) following with another 12 points. Singh led in team assists again with 4 while teammate Mark Mitchell (Toronto, ON) led the team in rebounds with a total of 7.
Despite the losses, the Eagles Men played hard and close matches against two of the top teams in the PACWEST conference. VIU is currently leading in 1st place with Camosun in 3rd after Week 6 action. Of the games, Head Coach Stefon Wilson was positive and direct with what the Eagles need to focus on stating, “We played very well for the first three quarters of both games. We have to do a better job of closing out games. VIU scored 25 points in the 4th and Camosun scored 28 points. Camosun only scored 28 points in the entire first half of the game. This clearly shows how important it is to finish games.”
The Eagles continue their hosting responsibilities playing Quest College on Friday, January 27th and against Capilano University on Saturday, January 28th. Both games will see tip-offs for the Women at 6:00pm and for the Men at 8:00pm.
Complete game results can be found at: www.kwantlen.ca/eagles
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| 05/12/2011 | A.R. MacNeil Wins Pat Dooley Memorial Junior Basketball Classic |
| 02/12/2011 | Bird Fight! Eagles Lose Second Straight Game |
| 28/11/2011 | Eagles Split in Home Opener Weekend |
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| 03/11/2011 | '11-'12 Eagles Men's Basketball Preview |
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