Men win and ladies lose in best of three series

Cougar Women

The ACAC basketball playoffs were underway last night as the Mount Royal Cougar men and women were both looking to jump out to an early lead in their respective series.

The Cougar women were hosting the 16-4 Concordia Thunder out of the North division, while the men were also host to the 10-10 MacEwan Griffins. The Cougar women knew they would have their hands full with the Thunder as they looked to avenge the 72-45 loss in the final game of the regular season.

The first quarter started out much like the teams’ first meeting, with the Thunder jumping out to a 10-0 lead as they seemingly couldn’t miss.

The Cougars had trouble finding their rhythm early on as the Thunder capitalized on a couple errant turnovers. It was the hot shooting of the Thunder that really gave the Cougars trouble though, as they hit five three-pointers in the first quarter on their way to outscoring the Cougars 25-12.

Just when it seemed as though the Cougars were down and out, they started to find their groove and started feeding the ball to Jamie Morck.

With Morck’s deft touch in the paint and some great team defence, the Cougars trimmed the lead to 31-28. Second chance points were huge for the Cougars as they clearly held the rebounding advantage, and the two teams entered the locker room at half with the score 36-33 Thunder.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, they were unable to sustain the momentum in the third quarter as the Thunder opened the half with a 13-4 run to make it 49-37. Multiple Cougar turnovers and some sharp shooting from the Thunder made it 59-44 for the visitors heading into the final quarter.

The Cougars fought back in the fourth as Nikki Golding and Morck again started taking it hard to the hoop, and the Cougars were able to cut the lead to eight with just over five minutes remaining. That’s as close as they would come, though, as the Thunder continued to make shots from all over the floor until the final buzzer. The Thunder never trailed in
this one, final score 75-65.

Kaylie Mattiussi of the Thunder was the catalyst for the visiting team, going 6-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe to finish with 22 points. Her up-tempo play gave the Cougars trouble all night, and will need to be contained if the Cougars are to force a third game.

Jamie Morck had an outstanding game for the Cougars, finishing with 24 points on 12-of-14 shooting. The rest of the team shot a combined 14-for-50 from the floor, including only 4-of-18 from behind the arc.

Game two is on Friday night as the Cougars visit Concordia. Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m.

If the Cougars win on Friday, game three will take place at MRU on Saturday, Feb 26th at 2:00 p.m.

Cougar Men

The Cougar men fared better on Thursday and rode a breakout game from Olawafemi Ogun as they cruised to an 89-73 win over the visiting Griffins.

The two teams looked evenly matched through the first ten minutes, as they played back and forth basketball with neither team leading by more than a couple baskets. But as the game progressed the Cougars seemed to find their rhythm and started slashing to the rim, getting to the free throw line, and making some perimeter jumpers to take a 39-26 lead into the locker room at half.

The Cougars’ Cam Dodd set the pace early in this one, and the Griffins had trouble keeping up with his tempo in the first half. Dodd finished with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, as he refused to settle for outside shots. He continued to take it to the basket and made 7-of-10 free throw attempts on the night.

The Griffins weren’t done yet, however, as they began the second half on a 12-2 run to pull within three of the home team.

They couldn't sustain it, however, and following a Cougar timeout, the home team went on a 12-4 run of their own to push the lead back to 11.

Ogun, known as Femi by his teammates, played his best game of the year as he continually found room under the basket, muscling out the opposition and making some tough layups. Ogun’s 18 points in just over 19 minutes of play really seemed to inspire the rest of his team and they responded with a complete 40 minute effort and an 89-73 victory.

The Cougars will visit MacEwan Saturday night for game two of the best-of-three series. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m.

Game three of the series, if need be, will go Saturday, Feb 26th at 4:00 p.m. at MRU's Kenyon Court.