Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Again, a cold start doomed the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team in an 89-58 loss to cross-town rival Alberta on Saturday night.

With the game just 10 minutes old, MacEwan was already trailing by 20. 

So, although they only lost the second half of the contest by just four points, proving they're capable of playing with good teams for stretches, the Griffins were forced to chase all night.

"One of the things that we have to focus on is because of our youth, we lose focus, and we give up easy shots – whether it's an open three or whether it's a layup – because we missed an assignment," said head coach Mike Connolly. "When we're organized, playing the way we should with a little bit of urgency and intensity, then we're hard to guard, we're hard to play against."

With the result, Alberta improves to 6-4, while MacEwan drops to 0-10 on the season.

Joel Seke was a big bright spot for the Griffins, scoring a team-high 16 points off the bench, while Job Janda narrowly missed a double double with 12 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes on the court.

"We had some tweaked injuries that we didn't want to overplay when the game was out of hand because we have to think about next weekend," said Connolly. "So, we got to play a lot of the young guys like Joel Seke, who was our leading scorer and did a hell of a job. 

"I thought Dele Osuma came off the bench and did a good job of getting after it. I thought he improved."

Alberta had three players in double digits: Isaac Simon (19), Adam Paige (17) and Max Russell (14).

"It is what it is," said Connolly of the series sweep. "We weren't as good this weekend as we can be. It's too bad because I thought we had two good weeks of practice to prepare – probably our best weeks we've had since I've been there. 

"I think last night guys got nervous and then we just have guys who need to grow mentally and understand it's not the end of the world. They're so hard on themselves and that took us out of it."