Kings offence explodes in victory while the Queens faced adversity in the fourth in win over TKU Eagles
Red Deer, November 18, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens earned victories over The Kings University Eagles. The Kings exploded for 116 victories while the Queens faced adversity in the fourth quarter but still managed to pull away with a win over the Eagles.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Women's Basketball – TKU Eagles 56 at Queens 63
It was all defense in the opening few minutes of the game between the Queens and the Eagles. But in the late stages of the quarter, TKU and RDP found their scoring grooves with the Queens pulling ahead in the dying seconds to take a 21-17 lead into the second. Guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies) hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to put the Queens up by four at the end of the quarter.
After the Eagles were held scoreless in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second, Head Coach Brian Anstice called a timeout. But their defence continued to work hard in this time frame as they held the Queens to just three points. Guard Megan Aleman (Interdisciplinary Science) finally ended the Eagles scoring drought with a three-point jumper. At the half, the Queens led the Eagles 35-23.
Aleman and centre Peighton Melton (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies) led their respective teams in points at the half. Melton had 11 while Aleman finished with eight in the very low-scoring first half. After the first two quarters, both teams were shooting under 30 per cent from the field with the Queens generating most of their points off turnovers.
In the late stages of the third, the Queens would go on a 12-0 run to blow the game wide open and extend their lead to 24 points. But at the end of the quarter, the Eagles found themselves down by 19 with the Queens leading 55-36.
The Eagles put up quite the fight and managed to outscore the Queens 12-5 in the first five minutes of the quarter which led to RDP calling a timeout. Following the short break, TKU continued to find stops on defence which led to four more points on offence to cut the Queens lead to eight. The Eagles clawed back within seven but that was the closest they would get with RDP walking away with a 63-56 victory.
Head Coach Avery Harrison explained the defence played well for the majority of the game but fell apart in the fourth which led to the Eagles clawing back into the game.
"I thought our defence worked well until the last quarter. Our transition getting back on defence hurt us more so then our half-court defence. They beat us on the floor in the final ten minutes which led to turnovers and the Eagles clawing back within seven points of us. That is not Queens Basketball as the fourth is our strongest quarter. It has been all season long."
The players of the game were awarded to Eagles Aneilia Ayotte and Queens Jayden Demchuk. Ayotte had an outstanding second half and finished the game with 14 points while Demchuk had a game-high 17 points.
The Queens will finish off the Fall Term of ACAC action with a home-and-home series against the Olds College Broncos that will start in Olds on Friday, while the Eagles head to Fort McMurray for a two-game set against the Keyano College Huskies next weekend.
Men's Basketball – TKU Eagles 83 at Kings 116
The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings exploded for a total of 116 points in their victory against The Kings University Eagles on Saturday night.
Following some great shooting from the Kings to open up this matchup with the Eagles, RDP jumped out to a 14-point lead with two minutes left to go in the quarter which led to a TKU timeout. Before the quarter ended, the Polytechnic extended their lead to 20 points and finished the first 10 minutes up 37-17.
Despite an effort to crawl back into the game with a couple of early three-pointers, the Eagles found themselves facing a 21-point deficit as they went into the second half with the Kings up 56-35.
Eagles guard Josh Povhe (Bachelor of Arts in English) led both teams with 13 points at the half while guard Bernardo Moller (Business Certificate) finished with 10 points to lead the Kings after the first two quarters.
It was a very close third quarter with the Eagles having their best offensive ten minutes as they dropped 25 points but allowed RDP to score 27 which extended the Kings lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Kings used a 33-point fourth quarter to walk away with a 116-83 victory over the Eagles.
Head Coach Jedell Foster explained the team's defence could use some work as they head into the final two games of the first semester.
"We played well on offence tonight. It is hard to score over 116 points in this league but we still managed. But offence is not everything. We struggled on defence specifically in the second half as we allowed over half of their points in the third and fourth quarters. But a win is a win and it is one step closer to finishing the first semester with just the one loss."
The players of the game were awarded to Eagles Josh Povhe and Kings Bernardo Moller. Povhe finished with 17 points and an impressive 17 rebounds while Moller finished with 20 points.
Eagles guard Cornelius Mingo Jr. (Bachelor of Arts) had a game-high 26 points in the loss with RDP guard Tyrique Walters (Open Studies) finishing with a team-high 21 points.
The Kings will clash with the Olds College Broncos on Friday in Olds with the Eagles heading out on the road next weekend for two games against the Keyano College Huskies.