MacEwan Athletics and UBCO Athletics
KELOWNA, B.C. – The MacEwan Griffins came within a missed three-point shot with two seconds left from netting their first win of the 2018-19 Canada West season on Friday.
But it wasn't meant to be.
The Griffins fell 83-81 after missing a few key shots down the stretch, including Deonte Doslov-Doctor's attempt from behind the arc with two seconds left that would have won it.
In interim head coach Ken Schildroth's mind, though, they really lost the game in the first quarter, falling behind 29-15 and being forced to play catchup the rest of the way.
"Our problem was the first quarter," he said. "We dug ourselves into a hole and UBCO shot the ball really well the whole game."
The Heat shot 52.6 per cent in the opening 10 minutes, led by Philip Okanlawon, who made five first-quarter threes as 17 of his 22 points came in Quarter 1. He added seven rebounds and three assists.
Triston Matthew played all 40 minutes for UBCO, producing 21 points and seven boards, while Aldrich Berrios had 15 points, Hafith Moallin scored 11 and Jarrett Larsen chipped in 10.
"We have to do a much better job defensively in our rotations and strategies," said Schildroth. "They just shot the lights out. Really, it's two principle players we have to be much better on.
"On a positive note, we got some contributions in the paint from some people, which was good," he added. "We really have to continue on our journey of improvement. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow."
Jake Notice led the Griffins with 22 points and nine rebounds. Abdullah Shittu added 16 points, five rebounds and five blocks – tying him for the most in a Canada West game in program history. Additionally, Shittu, up to 33 in 2018-19 (second-best in Canada West), now holds the MacEwan single season blocking standard by himself after sharing it with Denzel James entering the contest.
Abiel Tabufor continues his rise over the past few weekends with a 14-point effort, while fellow rookie Alex Jap chipped in 10 points off the bench.
With the result, the Heat improves to 6-11 and keeps their dream of a playoff spot alive, while the Griffins fall to 0-15.
"We're in a do-or-die situation really and we have to win every game going out and we got this one and now we gotta look at tomorrow," said Heat head coach Ken Olynyk. "To play four quarters like we did in the first would be nice to see, but we started to stand a little bit on offence."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (8 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
