MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The stark difference in shooting from beyond the arc accounted for why the UFV Cascades beat the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team by more than 30 points on Saturday night.
The home side went on a tear, far above their season average, shooting 14/34 (41.2 per cent), compared to just 4/22 for MacEwan (18.2 per cent) in a 93-61 rout.
"Shooting 18 per cent from three, while they shoot out of their minds, going 14/34, shooting 41 per cent from the three-point line (was the difference)," said Griffins head coach Mike Connolly. "They average 28 per cent on the season. We average 30. Lack of three-point defensive focus was the difference. We just gave up too many threes."
With the result, the Griffins fall to 2-12 on the season, while UFV improved to 7-9.
Rookie point guard Diego Presingular led the Griffins with 14 points and six rebounds, while Joesef Gopie had his strongest effort of the season with 13 points and five boards. Justace Byam added 10 points and five rebounds for the Griffins.
Joesef Gopie gets the hoop and the harm - part of his seven-point first quarter for the @MacEwanGriffins. MacEwan is trailing @UFVCascades 48-33 at the half.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/jh4Ijt1KoL
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Basketball Team (@Griffins_MBB) January 26, 2025
Both Dario Lopez and Jake Willemsen had 23 points for UFV as the latter went a ridiculous 7-for-10 from three-point land. Matthias Kim added 10 points and six rebounds, while Takeshi Croke flirted with a triple double, finishing with six points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The first half was a ball game as the Griffins were right in it.
"We had a better start," said Connolly. "We were down 15 at the half and it should have been 10. We gave up a three at the buzzer and we had a bad foul that put them to the line to make two. All of that was at the end of the half."
But in the third quarter, the Griffins went scoreless for a couple minutes and suddenly UFV led by 25.
"Then it was over," said Connolly. "We panicked and stopped executing on offence and only scored 28 points in the half."
The Griffins will try to rebound next weekend as they host Saskatchewan.
