The Kings pull through in overtime, Crespo drops 34 points

Red Deer, January 21, 2023 – The Ambrose University Lions looked to try to stop a different-looking Red Deer Polytechnic Kings squad tonight in central Alberta. Since starting the season 0-4, the Kings now sit with a 7-6 record, including a defeat against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, who sit in first in the South Division. Kings guard Josh Jean was hot from the three-point range as he went seven-for-eight enroute to a player of the game honour.

To start this game off, the fans and players were really into it as the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre was vibrating. The Lions and Kings started the game off very aggressively and made their opponents work for each and every point. A big turning point in the quarter came with four seconds left as the Kings stole the ball quickly which led to two free throws by Dennis Ennis (Open Studies), who capitalized on one to tie the game up heading into the second quarter.

Guard Bernardo Moller (Academic Upgrading) was sure feeling it in the first half as he nailed multiple clutch threes for the Kings as all nine of his points came off four three-point-attempts. The aggressiveness continued into the second quarter as well with both teams playing tight defense. But it was the Kings that ended the half with a 47-39 lead over the Lions. Guard Eduardo Crespo (Academic Upgrading) led his team at the break with 13 points, but Moller was just one point back with 12. Guard Isaac Gray had an outstanding half with 20 points.

The Lions came out of the dressing room with a lot of composure and adversity as they were able to battle back and take the lead late in the third quarter after a big three-point shot from forward Mateja Vukic put them up by one. This offensive surge by Ambrose did not even include Gray as he just had four points in the quarter. They outscored the Kings 23-13 in the third, which put Ambrose up by two heading into the final 10 minutes.

With this very close game between the Lions and the Kings, the fans were on the edge of their seats as they started to get into it and bring some energy to RDP's men's basketball team. But the Lions guard Jovi Custodio brought his bench to their feet with a two-handed dunk that tied the game up. On the other hand, Ambrose could not contain the shooting of Moller as he drained two big threes in the late stages of the game alongside his teammate Cole Wicker (Bachelor of Education), who hit one of his own to give his team a brief lead. Crespo would hit a dying second layup to tie it up at 82 and with the Lions missing a three-point opportunity, this game would be settled in overtime.

In a very tight five minutes of overtime, the Kings managed to win 92-91 after Lions Guilherme Lacerda Ferreira missed a last-second layup which would have put his team up.

The players of the game went to two players who both dropped 34 points on the night: Isaac Gray from the Lions and Eduardo Crespo from the Kings.

Crespo explained it was a tough game as they had a lot of ups and downs throughout the 45 minutes of game time. 

"We were able to manage it well and keep pushing for energy when things were down. When things were higher, we tried to keep the Lions down and do our job on defense."

Red Deer will kick off next weekend at home with a clash against the SAIT Trojans starting at 8 pm. The Lions will host the Lethbridge College Kodiaks that same day as well.