MacEwan Athletics
CALGARY – Up against it due to two early injuries, the wheels fell off for the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team in the fourth quarter as they lost 93-64 to the Mount Royal University Cougars in their season opener on Friday night.
Very much in the game for most of it, the unflattering score started to balloon late in the third quarter and the deficit went beyond 20 midway through the fourth.
"We were there and it just slipped away," said head coach Mike Connolly. "The wheels fell off all at once. We just didn't play well down the stretch and we were short-handed.
"Guys learned lessons. We were there, it wasn't a blowout from the start."
Luke Harold led the Griffins with 19 points, while Alex Jap had 16 points and eight rebounds, but the team was hampered by early injuries to Marco Mariani Correas and Job Janda.
"We had two injuries at the beginning of the game and we were down to 10 players," said Connolly.
MRU was led by Nate Petrone, who jarred 18 points, while Dylan Lutes chipped in 17.
The teams will meet again on Saturday (6 p.m., Canada West TV presented by Co-op).