Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The offensive attack for the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team went stone cold, frozen off the scoreboard for eight minutes and 38 seconds of clock time from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the second on Friday night.
It was a death knell.
During MacEwan's drought, the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns built a big lead and never looked back, en route to a dominant 87-56 win in the final Canada West hoops action of the season in the David Atkinson Gym. They officially clinched a playoff spot after moving to 8-10, while dropping the Griffins to 2-16.
"We were a little disappointed with last night's result and the way we played for 40 minutes," said Pronghorns head coach James McKinnon of Friday's 82-76 barnburner over the Griffins. "I really urged our guys that it was time to buckle in for playoffs.
"Go ahead and put a 40-minute performance in. Thankfully the boys came out in the first quarter and just put the heat on them early."
MacEwan had it tied 8-8 with Lethbridge at the 5:36 mark of the first quarter when Gregoire Piche-Wint converted in the paint. They then proceeded to miss 16-straight shots before Jake Notice finally broke the drought with a three-pointer at 6:58 of the second quarter.
By then, the score was 29-11 and the Griffins never could close the gap the rest of the way.
"That's the story with us all year," said MacEwan head coach Mike Connolly. "We lost character that game. That was an embarrassment.
"It's unfortunate for Deonte (Doslov-Doctor) to go out in his last game like that. But we have to do better. Coaches have to do better; players have to do better and that's real simple. We have to find people who will do better than what we have (done)."
Doslov-Doctor, who was feted during Senior Night celebrations, finished with nine points in the final home game of his university career. He was subbed off the court with 1:21 left to a standing ovation from fans and both teams and hug from his coach.
"It's pretty surreal," said the fifth-year guard, who will leave as MacEwan's career Canada West minutes leader. "It's pretty sad I won't get to play here again in another U SPORTS game. I loved playing here."
Abdullah Shittu led the Griffins with 16 points, while Jake Notice bucketed 13.
Lethbridge had six players in double digits for points – Chad Oviatt (19), Scott Mazutinec (14), Colton Gibb (13) and Brett Warren, Kyle Peterson and Jeffrey Rodehutskors with 10 apiece.
"We've been pretty consistent with that all year," said McKinnon. "I think we have six guys that have (at least) 10 points (per game average) and then our next is at eight. So, we've got a really balanced attack.
"It was another good outing by us."
Lethbridge will aim to keep that kind of effort rolling into the playoffs. They'll finish the regular season at home vs. Thompson Rivers University on Feb. 7-8, while MacEwan visits UNBC on the same dates.
