Demchuk and Crespo lead their respective teams to victories over the Ooks, both finished with a double-double
Red Deer, November 4, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens win big on Saturday night as they defeat the NAIT Ooks. The Queens keep their undefeated record alive while the Kings score 30-plus in two quarters to walk away with a huge 98-71 victory.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Women's Basketball – NAIT Ooks 43 at Queens 72
While scoring 12 consecutive points to open up the game, the Queens would hold the Ooks scoreless until guard Payton Neilson (Bachelor of Business Administration) on one of her two free throw opportunities. This would be the only point the Ooks would score in the first five minutes of the game which led to them calling a timeout as the Queens went on a 16-1 run to start the game. RDP would take a 25-6 lead into the second quarter.
Like the first quarter, the Queens would hold the Ooks scoreless for the first five minutes while scoring just eleven which includes dropping a couple of three-pointers. But with under two minutes to play, NAIT picked up some momentum which led to them tripling their first-quarter score. Despite their late push in the final minutes of the half, NAIT was still down 43-19 going into the third.
Neilson would lead the Ooks in points with eight at the end of the half while the Queens were co-led by forward Jayden Demchuk (Practical Nursing Diploma) and guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary) who had eight points each.
It was definitely a change of pace to start the second half with both teams just combining for 19 points with under two minutes to go with the Ooks trying to fight to stay in the game. First-year student-athlete Zoey Longman (Legal Assistant) would drain a three just before the buzzer to give her Queens a 30-plus lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game. At the end of the quarter, the Queens were still leading with a score of 62-30.
The Ooks would find their groove with under five minutes to go in the game as they earned stops on defence and transitioned this momentum onto offence. They were outscoring the Queens 8-5 in the fourth. But facing a 32-point deficit going into the quarter, the Queens walked away with a 72-43 victory to keep their undefeated season alive.
Head Coach Avery Harrison explained the team had a really good week of practice and it paid off with two victories at home this weekend.
"I thought our defence was overwhelming the Ooks in the first half. We had a 25-6 start which was quite impressive and only held them to 19 points after the second quarter. I think we let the game get out of hand in the third quarter but that is just basketball especially when you get a good lead. We will have to work on that mental game moving forward."
The players of the game were awarded to Ooks Micah Reed (Bachelor of Business Administration) and Queens Janai Hubert (Bachelor of Kinesiology). Reed finished the night with 15 points and six rebounds while Hubert finished with a double-double. She had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Queens will have a bye next weekend with their next game being on the road in Edmonton as they face the Concordia University Thunder. The Ooks will head to Olds College tomorrow to take on the Broncos for a 2 pm tip-off.
Men's Basketball – NAIT Ooks 71 at Kings 98
The Kings would open up their matchup with the Ooks on fire from downtown with 12 of their 20 points six minutes into the quarter being scored from beyond the arc. Guard Bernardo Moller (Business Diploma) was a perfect three-for-three from downtown in the opening quarter. Following the Kings sixth three-pointer in the first seven minutes of the game, NAIT would call a timeout. At the end of the first, the Kings found themselves up 32-18.
After a much closer quarter with the Ooks just holding the Kings to 21 points while scoring 16, the Polytechnic would take a 53-34 lead into the second half. Forward Owen Weaver (Academic Upgrading) finished the first 20 minutes with 13 points while the Kings were led by Moller who did not even play in the second quarter and still had the team lead with nine points.
It was all Ooks to start the second half in a very close and low-scoring quarter. In the first four minutes of the quarter, the visitors held the hosts to just seven points while scoring 12 of their own to make it just a 14-point lead for the Kings. NAIT continued to dominate the third quarter as they outscored the Kings 25-14 in the third quarter to close the gap and make it an eight-point game going into the fourth.
The Kings managed to bounce back in the fourth quarter and outscored their opponent 31-12 to take home a 98-71 victory over the Ooks.
Head Coach Jedell Foster said he liked how the team responded in the fourth quarter.
"We did not have a great start to the second half. The stats will show you this as we got outscored. But the men managed to bounce back and outscore the Ooks to come away with a 27-point victory when after the third, it was just an eight-point difference. Crespo had another amazing game tonight finishing with a double-double so I am happy to see he just jumped right in with both feet in his first two games of the season."
The players of the game were awarded to guard Owen Weaver and guard Eduardo Crespo who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds while Weaver had an outstanding night underneath the net with 15 rebounds. He also was second in team scoring with 13 points.
The Ooks will have a rare Sunday game tomorrow afternoon when they head down to Olds College to take on the Broncos while the Kings will have next weekend off with their next game coming against the Concordia University Thunder on November 17.