Kodiaks over Kings in another battle

Friday evening, only 1 point separated the Red Deer College Kings Basketball team and the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. The rematch began in similar fashion Saturday afternoon. The game was tied on several occasions until the Kodiaks pulled ahead in the 4th quarter for an 86-77 win.

It was back-and-forth in the opening quarter and the teams found themselves tied 21-21. Ian Tevis led the RDC Kings with 10 points. Anthony Robbs picked up 2 rebounds for the Kings. For the Kodiaks, Cory Richardson contributed 7 points. The Kings hit 3-of-3 shots from behind the 3-point-arch.

In the 2nd quarter, RDC outscored Lethbridge College 20-10 to take a 41-31 lead at the half. Matt Matear led the Kings with 5 defensive rebounds. Chris Maughan and Keanu Funa had 2 defensive rebounds each for the Kodiaks.

The Kodiaks scored 24 points in the 3rd quarter while the Kings had 14. The teams were tied 55-55 heading into the 4th quarter. For RDC, Tevis had a total of 23 points. Richardson led Lethbridge College with 19 points.

The Kodiaks outscored the Kings 31-22 in the final quarter and won 86-77. Tevis added 8 more points for the Kings while Robert Miles scored 8 for the Kodiaks. 

Ian Tevis was named the Kings player-of-the-game. The Kinesiology and Sport Studies student finished with 31 points, 4 steals, 3 assists and 8 rebounds. As a team, over 4 quarters the RDC Kings outrebounded the Lethbridge College Kodiaks 39-33. The Kings shot 41.5% from the field.

Kings Head Coach Clayton Pottinger was disappointed to see a lead slip away.

"We are just having a hard time finishing out basketball games," said Pottinger. "Every loss we've had this semester, with the exception of 1, we've had sizeable leads that have disappeared. We are trying to sort that out right now." 

Pottinger would like to have seen better execution against Lethbridge College's defence.

"The Kodiaks play a zone defence. When we look at the tape of this game we will see the openings," said Pottinger. "We scouted this team well and know they play zone. We've seen the 2-3 zone for 3 years now and once it happens we are just not executing."

With parity at the top of the South Division, anything can happen.

"All we can focus on is winning our last games and let the chips fall where they may. As we know, anything can happen in the playoffs," said Pottinger. "We are continually prepping for playoffs. Once we get healthy and get our entire lineup playing again we can compete with any of these teams."

Currently the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (10-3) and Medicine Hat College Rattlers (10-3) share top spot in the ACAC Men's Basketball South Division with 20 points. The Red Deer College Kings (9-6) and SAIT Trojans (9-3) are tied for 2nd place with 18 points. The top 4 teams from each division qualify for the playoffs.

Next weekend, the RDC Kings travel to Saskatchewan to compete against the Briercrest College Clippers (5-8). Friday Feb. 3 at 8:00 p.m, the Kings face the Clippers. In a rematch on Saturday, the 2 teams meet at 3:00 p.m.