Mauro and RDP Kings rally in the second half to drop Vikings

Red Deer, AB – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings showed resiliency against the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings Saturday evening.

Down nine points at the half, the Kings found an extra gear in the latter two quarters and downed the Vikings 71-68 at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

The U of A Augustana Vikings had a strong start, outscoring the home team 40-31 by the half. Vikings Player of the Game Colby Anderson scored 12 of his 17 points in the second quarter alone.

The RDP Kings started to find their game in the latter half, sinking 40 points. Efe Iyamu (Open Studies) helped to spark the Kings' offence, contributing 12 of his 15 points in the third and fourth quarters.

Iyamu (11) sank 67% of his three-point attempts

The Kings' defence held the Vikings to 28 points in the second half and earned a 71-68 decision.

Six-foot-seven Jose Mauro (Business Certificate), the North Star Sports Kings Player of the Game, had a double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds), along with four steals and two blocks. First-year guard Deandre Rowe (Open Studies) accumulated 11 points, three rebounds and three steals in the winning effort.

Rowe (5) went five-for-12 from the field

Red Deer County's MacGregor Manyluk (Bachelor of Business Administration - General Management) added nine points for the Polytechnic. 

Augustana's Marc Parma scored 16 points and Jack Smilski chipped in with nine. 

The Vikings shot 36.5% from the field. The Kings responded with 37% efficiency.

The RDP Kings (12-7) will play the Lakeland College Rustlers (10-8) on the road at 8 pm on Friday, February 16.

On Saturday, February 17, the U of A Augustana Vikings (8-12) will tip-off against the SAIT Trojans (16-4) in Calgary at 3 pm.

The top five teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs. From there, the top two teams in each division will advance to the Final Four Men's Basketball Championship.