Kings and Queens stay hot in Edmonton, earned victories over the Thunder
Edmonton, November 17, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens both extended their winning streaks with victories over the Concordia University Thunder. The Queens controlled the game from start to finish while the Kings faced adversity in the middle two quarters but managed to outscore the Thunder 18-10 in the fourth to earn the victory.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Women's Basketball – Queens 72 at Concordia University Thunder 56
Despite scoring 24 in the first quarter, the Queens allowed 19 to only hold a five-point lead going into the second quarter. But this would change in the final ten minutes of the half as the Polytechnic doubled up on Concordia to take a 17-point lead into the third.
At the half, the Queens were up 48-31 backed by some outstanding shoot from beyond the arc from guard Lauren France (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology). She went four-for-five from deep to finish the first half with 12 points which was a team-high following the end of the first half.
But the Thunder came out strong in the second half as they doubled up on the Queens and outscored the Polytechnic 18-9 to make it an eight-point game going into the final quarter.
The Queens bounced back in a very low-scoring fourth quarter by outscoring their opponent 15-7 to walk away with a 72-56 victory over the Thunder. France, who was named the player of the game for Queens, added six points in the second half to finish tied for the team lead with 18 points. Centre Janai Hubert (Bachelor of Kinesiology) had an outstanding second half in the paint as she scored 18 points to finish tied with France.
With 12 steals in the win, guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal (Educational Assistant) broke the ACAC single-game steals record that was held by six other student-athletes that ranged from 2007-2016.
The Queens will be back in Red Deer tomorrow as they welcome The Kings University Eagles to town with the game starting at 6 pm.
Men's Basketball – Kings 87 at Concordia University Thunder 83
The Kings opened up their road game against the Thunder with an impressive 33 points while holding Concordia to 21 to take a 12-point lead into the second quarter.
But the Thunder bounced back in the final 10 minutes of the first half as they diminished the Kings lead down to just five points as Concordia outscored the Polytechnic 28-21 in the second. But RDP still went into the third quarter with a 54-49 lead. Guard Efe Iyamu had an outstanding first half as he managed to put up a team-high 20 points which were 11 more than the next Kings student-athlete, centre Jose Mauro (Business Certificate).
RDP shot well in the first 20 minutes of their game, going 17-for-34 from the field while also shooting an impressive 67 per cent from beyond the arc. Iyamu had 15 of his 20 first-half points off the three-point jumper.
The Thunder continued to outscore the Kings in the second half as they put up 24 points to take their first lead of the game into the fourth quarter. After an impressive first two quarters, the Thunder were able to shut down Iyamu, holding him to just two points in the third.
But the Kings were able to bounce back in the late stages of the fourth quarter and show up when it mattered most to walk away with an 87-83 victory.
Guard Deandre Rowe (Open Studies) had an impressive second half and finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds on his way to being named the Kings player of the game.
The Kings will finish off their weekend of game action at home tomorrow as they host The Kings University Eagles with the game commencing 20 minutes after the conclusion of the Queens game.