Regular season comes to a close; playoff opponents TBD

The Mount Royal Cougar women’s basketball team had an up and down weekend,
thoroughly beating the Augustana Vikings 84-51 before being humbled by the Concordia Thunder, 72-45.

The Cougar women were simply too much for the Vikings on Friday night, and had four players score in double figures on their way to the 33 point rout.

Jamie Morck and Celeste Clarke led the way for the Cougars with 16 points each, Nikki Golding had 14 and Emily Larson finished with 10. Morck also had 10 rebounds for the double-double.

The Cougars steadily built on their lead throughout the game, going into the half with a 10 point lead, and entering the fourth quarter with a 16 point lead. The Cougars then had a 26-9 fourth quarter, taking all the wind out of the Vikings’ sails.

On Saturday the Cougars got a better taste of some North conference competition in the Concordia Thunder, and were left shaking their heads after getting handily beaten by 27.

The Cougars managed to shoot over 49 per cent from the floor on Friday, but against the Thunder could only manage to hit 26 per cent of their shots.

Morck again led the way for the Cougars with 15 points and eight rebounds, but shot only 5-of-16 from the floor and committed four turnovers.

Clarke, Golding and Larson shot a combined 5-of-24 as the Cougars just couldn’t buy a bucket on this night.

The Cougars managed no more than 12 points in each of the four quarters, and never recovered from their 10 point first quarter.

The Cougars played adequately on defence in the first half and were only down eight at the break, but simply could not overcome their shooting woes Saturday as they saw the Thunder lead increase to 18 after the third.

The Cougars need to put this loss behind them quickly as they move forward into the ACAC playoffs, which begin on Feb. 24th. The opponent is still yet to be determined.

Men
Make it thirteen straight for the Cougars’ men’s basketball team, after downing both the Augustana Vikings and Concordia Thunder this past weekend.

Led by four different players all scoring in double-digits, the Cougar men built a 20 point led in the first quarter and never looked back on their way to securing a 99-60 point victory, tying for their largest margin of victory this season – 39 points.

Cam Dodd (16 points), Jared Cornish (14 points), Ian Tomaszewski (14 points) and Jerome Makasiar (13 points) all scored in double figures for the blue and white, while the teams defence was stellar, holding the opposition to a paltry 35 per cent shooting.

The Cougars were also opportunistic in the steals department, registering 14 thefts and creating 27 turnovers in the victory.

Saturday’s contest against the Concordia Thunder didn’t come as easily, but the game still ended in the same result, as the Cougars clawed back from a four point half-time deficit to the secure the victory.

Down 32-28 going into the break, the Cougars gained some momentum in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to three points headed into the final frame.

Showing the resiliency that has made them one of the conference’s best teams, the Cougars took the lead at the eight minute mark of the fourth-quarter off a three-pointer from Nick Loewen, three of his team high 14 on the night.

Consecutive buckets by Jordan Hone, Jerome Makasiar and Awet Abraha would extend the Cougars lead to 59-52.

The Thunder would try and make it close, narrowing the gap to five points with only 30 seconds remaining, but the Cougars would hit their key free-throws late to walk away with the 70-62 victory – their 13th in a row.

Cam Dodd chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds and the Cougars defence continued to be the catalyst for the team, once again holding their opposition to a sub thirty per cent shooting night.

With the wins the Cougars finish the season at 15-3, good for second spot in the ACAC south division behind the 17-1 Lethbridge Kodiaks.

The Cougars next games will be in the quarter-finals, starting on February 24th against an opponent TBD.

Congratulations Cougars!