Briercrest battles hard to St. Mary’s in close loss

Posted: February 5, 2016

Margaret P. Reimer Memorial Gymnasium was booming Friday evening with the stands filled with noisemakers and fans as Briercrest hosted ACAC’s Make Some Noise for Mental Health Campaign. Men’s Basketball also took on St. Mary’s for their first game of the weekend.

After the jump ball the game was off and running. Briercrest only trailed a few points behind St. Mary’s causing the intensity to rise. Zac Tamlin sunk one one of his two free throws, which tied the score. Briercrest then kicked it up a notch and scored 8 consecutive baskets, shutting out St. Mary’s until the end of the quarter. Briercrest was in the lead with a score of 19-11 to end off the first quarter.

St. Mary’s came into the second quarter ready to take the lead. St. Mary’s played with tough defense and offense allowing them to close the gap and soon take the lead. St. Mary’s called timeout at 25-29 to ensure that they kept their lead. Briercrest made hard shots under the net throughout the quarter though allowing them to not stray too far behind. By the end of the second half, Briercrest was trailing 37-30.

During halftime we had Briercrest Director of Counselling & Health Services, Margaret Clarke and women’s basketball player, Lauren Jordan share what the school and sport teams are doing at Briercrest to help educate people about mental health. They also shared resources that Moose Jaw has to offer as well.

St. Mary’s carried their momentum over to the second half of the game by keeping a steady lead. Briercrest then called timeout at 36-50 to try and kill St. Mary’s momentum and re-strategize. This did the trick because Ethan DaSilva had two back-to-back three pointers and Tamlin following with a sunken free throw. St. Mary’s called timeout at 58-61 for St. Mary’s in hopes of stopping Briercrest’s rally. Sylvan Lombo then sunk a three-pointer to give Briercrest the lead. Briercrest then added two more points to their lead giving them a score of 71-66 and to end of the third quarter. Briercrest scored a staggering 41 points in the third quarter.

The final quarter of the game was a intense filled one. Briercrest called timeout at 85-89 in hopes of being able to regain the lead. Julian Apakoh later got a breakaway and made a layup to get the crowd roaring. Right after that St. Mary’s called timeout at 93-91 for them with 22.6 second remaining. Briercrest then regained possession and called timeout right away with 22.3 second remaining. Briercrest worked hard and tried to regain the lead. Unfortunately Briercrest was unable to gain the lead and lost 95-91.

Ethan DaSilva was awarded Player of the Game by Moose Jaw Representative Canadian Mental Health Associative, Nicole Hebert. DaSilva had nine rebounds and two three-pointers along with a team high of 25 points and a game high of nine assists. Julian Apakoh had two team highs of 10 rebounds and three steals. Zak Tamlin had a game high of three three-pointers.

Come back to Margaret P. Reimer Memorial Gymnasium tomorrow to continue to help make noise for mental health! 

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