Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The comeback was almost complete.
The MacEwan Griffins have shown this year they can mount fourth-quarter ralies, and they fought and clawed their way back from a 10-point deficit against the Saskatchewan Huskies, but in the waning moments of the game, they just couldn't put it all together and lost 85-79 on Saturday night at the David Atkinson Gym.
"We didn't execute down the stretch, we had opportunities to score, and we missed a lot of open shots," said MacEwan Griffins head coach Mike Connolly.
"The guys battled hard, we had some lapses, and I thought Saskatchewan shot the ball too well. We gave them 9-for-15 from three, and that's a lot for them."
Job Janda recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Diego Presingular also scored 19 points, while Joel Seke chipped in with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in the loss as the Griffins fell to 2-14 this season.
Saskatchewan was led by Freddy Kapinga, who recorded 21 points and four rebounds, while Easton Thimm scored 16 points and five rebounds in the victory for the Huskies, who leapfrog the Griffins in the standings and are now 3-12.
MacEwan held a slim 47-44 lead at the half, and midway through the third period the Huskies held a 56-53 lead, but in a game that was tightly contested, Saskatchewan was able to go on a 14-4 run to close out the third quarter.
But despite being down 10, the Griffins found a way to chip away in the fourth quarter.
A long-range three from Presingular cut Saskatchewan's lead to 70-68, and then he hit a layup to make it a 72-70 lead for the Huskies.
Presingular was red-hot in the fourth quarter, recording 11 of his 19 points, and he drained a big trey after stopping on a dime and dropping his defender to the floor to once again make it a two-point deficit.
Two free throws from Hugo Alonso tied the game at 79-79 with 3:14 to play, but MacEwan just couldn't execute down the stretch.
"Our guys fought through, we brought it back. The game is 40 minutes. As long as we can respond and keep battling, we can handle those ups and downs and we did," said Connolly.
"Overall, we did some good things, we had some chances to win it, but we didn't get it done, and that's all we can ask for.
"We had some chances to win, but we missed some shots, we had some turnovers and we run a play we're not supposed to — and that's learning and hoping … and we've got to keep growing."
With a hand in his face!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Basketball Team (@Griffins_MBB) February 2, 2025
Job Janda knocks down a huge three at the end of the first half as @MacEwanGriffins hold a 47-44 lead over @HuskieMBB after 20 minutes. Janda leads Griffins with 15 points so far!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/8S9FfQZedV
Dropping both games against Saskatchewan this weekend certainly stings for the Griffins who had their sights set on climbing up the conference standings and possibly challenge for a playoff spot.
Both games were tightly contested, and having to dig out of a 10-point fourth quarter hole made it tough on the Griffins.
"That 10-point stretch we were down hurt us, but we found a way to get back, and that was all through hard work and grit," said Presingluar.
Presingluar also said the Griffins didn't do enough on the defensive end to defend the Huskies sharp shooters from beyond the arc
"We allowed them to get comfortable, and any basketball player once they hit their shot and find their rhythm, they're going to get comfortable. They're good shooters. They have a lot of shooters that can hit over 35 per cent from three and we let those guys hurt us," said Presingular.
MacEwan has certainly been hit with the injury bug this season. They were missing forward Milan Jaksic, out with a back injury, and they lost the services of point guard Justace Byam late in the third quarter to an ankle injury.
"We lost some key pieces today, and we all had to step it up. Justace was playing amazing, he always has been, and Milan has been playing great. Losing them definitely hurt us," said Presingular.
"We're in a situation where we've lost a lot of our guys, but we still show a lot of heart to fight for them and try to get wins, and at the end of the day we don't give up."
MacEwan will be back on their home court next weekend when they host the Manitoba Bisons on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m.).
