Valdes helps lead Basketball Kings to road victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Red Deer College (1-0) | 16 | 26 | 29 | 18 | 89 |
|
St. Mary's University (0-2) | 10 | 18 | 29 | 23 | 80 |
Brent Forster - RDC
In their season opener, the Red Deer College Kings Basketball team faced the St. Mary's Lightning in Calgary on Saturday. After the Kings opened strongly, the Lightning picked up their game in the latter half but the RDC Kings earned an 89-80 win.
The RDC Kings hit the court with energy and outscored the Lightning 16-10 in the first quarter. Darien Valdes led RDC with 6 points. In a solid second quarter the Kings picked up 26 points while the Lightning responded with 18. At the half, the RDC Kings held a 42-28 lead. Valdes picked up another 13 points in the second quarter and was 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc.
The third quarter featured an offensive outburst from both teams as they both scored 29 points. Dshawn Tyrell picked up 13 points in the quarter for RDC. St. Mary's tried to push back in the late stages but the RDC Kings earned an 89-80 road victory. Omon Edobar led RDC with 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Over four quarters, Valdes led the Kings with 25 points. The first-year Visual Art student added 1 steal, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Edobar finished with 21 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. Tyrell accumulated 15 points, 1 steal, 1 assist and 9 rebounds. Darryl Broderick contributed 12 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds. Valdes, Edobar and Tyrell are all first-year student-athletes and they made an impact in their first Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) conference game.
The Red Deer College Kings led in many categories on Saturday night. They had a higher field goal percentage (45.1%), more success on three-point attempts (44%), more points off turnovers (12), more points in the paint (40) and bench points (16).
RDC Kings Basketball Head Coach Clayton Pottinger saw several positives in the win. "Tonight, we did a good job of scoring in transition. With some injuries, we had many first-years playing key roles," said Pottinger. "Those guys did a good job tonight but there is still a huge learning curve in ACAC basketball. We want to work on finishing the game well and managing the clock."
The RDC Kings (1-0) will host the SAIT Trojans (1-0) on Saturday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m. in the RDC Main Gym.