Bakker and the Basketball Kings defeat Kodiaks by seven

Brent Forster - RDC

Saturday evening, the Red Deer College Kings Basketball team hosted the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, and the Kings displayed a good effort which sparked the offence. Only 2 points separated the teams in the first half, then a strong 32 point third quarter helped the RDC Kings pick up a 97-90 home victory. 

The Kings had a better start compared to yesterday, but Lethbridge College outscored RDC 21-19 in the first quarter. Dshawn Tyrell scored 4 points for the Kings while Michael Clemons led the Kodiaks with 6 points. 

Each team scored 21 points in the second quarter. In the quarter, Omon Edobar picked up 10 points and 2 rebounds for the Kings while Cole Crick totaled 7 points, 1 assist and 3 rebounds for the Kodiaks. The Kings entered the half trailing only by 2 points (40-42).

The Kings' offence was firing in the third quarter and they outscored the Kodiaks 32-19. In the quarter, Darien Valdes led the way for RDC with 13 points and 3 rebounds while Cory Richardson accumulated 7 points and 1 assist for Lethbridge College. After three quarters of play, the RDC Kings led 72-61.

Lethbridge College tried to rally and they put up 29 points in the final quarter. The Kings responded with 25 and they earned a 97-90 home victory. Eric Bakker scored 8 points for the Kings while Keanu Funa added 12 points for the Kodiaks in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Kings recorded 53 rebounds, 7 steals and shot 48.5% from the field. 

Eric Bakker was named the player-of-the-game for the RDC Kings while Michael Clemons received the award for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. Bakker, a first-year forward from Calgary, stacked up 15 points, 1 steal, 2 assists and 8 rebounds in the win. Clemons finished with 15 points, 2 steals and 8 assists. 

Kings Basketball Head Coach Clayton Pottinger liked the performance. "I was happy to see us bounce back and play a little bit better game. I know this team has a lot of pride and they were embarrassed about how things went down yesterday," said Pottinger. "They were excited about the opportunity to play again today and do a better job, which they did. That third quarter run was huge. We got hot there and made some shots, but most importantly in that stretch we played our best defence which created those opportunities for us on the other end." 

The Kings have many offensive weapons and Dshawn Tyrell was one of the student-athletes that energized the crowd and Kings team. "Dshawn wasn't able to play last night but he most certainly was a spark for us today. He had those three dunks and he was tremendous defensively," said Pottinger. "It was good to have almost our lineup back in there so we can play and have the rotation that we normally do." Tyrell totaled 18 points, 1 block, 2 steals, 4 assists and 8 rebounds. 

With one game remaining before the Christmas break, Pottinger assessed the play of the RDC Kings over six games. "It's been slow progress and injury plagued. The good news is that it is the early part of the season," said Pottinger. "We play the bulk of our games in the second semester. We have fourteen games and playoffs next semester, and our goal is to be playing our best basketball and be healthy in March."

The RDC Kings (3-3) will compete against the Olds College Broncos (3-3) on Friday, November 24 at 8:00 p.m. on the road.