Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
SASKATOON, Sask. – On the plus side, as Griffins head coach Mike Connolly pointed out, they wouldn't have been in this position last year.
Still, MacEwan's 78-61 loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies, borne out of a fourth-quarter meltdown which blew apart a close game, stings.
They were right there, so close to getting over the hump and finding the program's first win in nearly four years, and they know it.
"The veteran guys made some of those costly mistakes down the stretch," lamented Connolly. "They took ownership and that's half the battle when they know what the problem is.
"The Huskies are a good team. They're in the top half of the loop. It's just frustrating. We were right there. Guys are frustrated. We've got to come out and focus the whole time and we didn't. It cost us defensively at times and it cost us with silly turnovers that they scored on. And that's the difference."
With the result, MacEwan is now 0-3 in the Canada West standings, while Saskatchewan improves to 2-1.
Marco Correas led the Griffins with 18 points, while Milan Jaksic recorded his third-straight double double (17 points and 12 rebounds).
Saskatchewan was led by Alexander Dewar (20 points), while Easton Thimm had a double double (17 points and 10 rebounds).
For much of the game, the Griffins played right with the Huskies, down by only three after one quarter, nine at the half and just six entering the final 10 minutes.
"We were playing defence, we were getting back in transition, we were moving the ball and playing together," said Connolly. "And then in the fourth quarter, we lost our defensive focus. And offensively, we got away from playing as a team.
"And I think this is inexperience that we've got to get better at, but some guys tried to do some things and made some plays they shouldn't have made. Instead of keeping it simple and doing what they do well, they went out of their limits."
The Griffins will have a chance at a do-over on Saturday as the teams meet again (6 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
"Guys are down, but they're hungry," said Connolly. "We'll come back and play tomorrow.
"We've just got to keeping punching in and we'll punch through."
