MONTREAL -- Their season might not have had the perfect ending they were hoping for, but it’s safe to say it was still a wildly successful campaign for the Briercrest College Clippers men’s basketball team.
The Clippers took the court in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association men’s basketball championship in Montreal this past week and put together a 1-2 record, reaching the bronze medal final.
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference champions opened with an 83-73 loss to the host Vanier College Cheetahs before rebounding with a 77-69 victory over the Vancouver-based Calipano Blues in their bronze quarter-final. Briercrest then saw their storybook season come to an end with a 101-89 loss to Montreal’s College Jean-de-Brebeuf.
Vanier 83, Briercrest 73
The Clippers had a handful of impressive comebacks on their way to winning the ACAC title, but they didn’t have the same kind of luck in their opening game at nationals.
Vanier roared out to a 27-11 lead after the first quarter and held a 50-39 lead at half before extending their edge to 69-50 through three quarters.
Briercrest did their best to chip away in the final 10 minutes and got to within six with 1:01 remaining, but Vanier would hang on for the 10-point win.
CCAA player of the year Jude Shepherd-Hills led the Clippers with 24 points and nine rebounds while Carter Waind scored 16.
Briercrest 77, Capilano 69
Briercrest found themselves in a close battle in the early going of their first bronze medal-side game and found themselves trailing by a pair 18-16 after the opening quarter.
Capilano continued to hold a narrow lead much of the second, but a 6-0 run just before half would see Briercrest go into the break with a 35-31 lead.
The Clippers then extended their lead to nine 52-44 through three quarters and led by as much as 17 in the fourth before Capilano got back within three with 2:02 to play, but that would be as close as they’d get.
Waind topped Briercrest with 20 points, while Francis Dogani scored 15 and Shepherd-Hills added 14 points and nine rebounds. Corbin Gegenbach came off the bench to score 10 points and Riley Seaborn had 10 rebounds.
Jean-de-Brebeuf 101, Briercrest 89
The Clippers fell behind 11-1 in the first five minutes and were unable to recover, finding themselves trailing 32-14 after the first 10 minutes and 64-36 at the half.
Things were far better for Briercrest after the break, as they’d outscore Jean-de-Brebeuf 23-20 in the third quarter and 30-17 in the fourth, but the first half deficit would prove too much to overcome.
Seaborn and Dogani each scored 21 points while Waind contributed 15. Oroma Bongomin added 12 points and Owen Shepherd-Hills had 10.
