CALGARY — Despite a strong effort from the host Calgary Dinos, they were unable to withstand a late push from the Acadia Axemen, falling 86-77 in the consolation semifinals.
The Axemen will face the Laval Rouge et Or in the U SPORTS Final 8 lower-bracket finals tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. EST.
Laval advanced after holding off a late charge from the UBC Thunderbirds in the first consolation semifinal.
Consolation semifinal 1: Laval Rouge et Or 83, UBC Thunderbirds 75
After falling to the Carleton Ravens yesterday, the third-seeded Laval Rouge et Or men’s basketball team fought their way to compete for fifth place at the Final 8 national championships on Saturday.
The Rouge et Or eliminated the UBC Thunderbirds 83-75 in the consolation semifinals to open the second day of the tournament at the Jack Simpson Gym.
“Especially after yesterday, we knew we had to bounce back and be physical again and be very defensive,” Laval point guard Chris Tshibola said. “And I feel like that’s what we did today.”
For UBC, with almost half of its roster made up of fourth and fifth-year players, the game marked the final time many suited up in a Thunderbirds uniform.
“Proud of a lot of us,” fifth year player Holt Tomie said. “We all have good careers, the fifth years, and I think everyone will do great things. I think we really built culture this year and (I’m) hoping that the young guys can build on that.”
The RSEQ championship winning Laval squad came out looking like they had a point to prove, opening the game with an eight-point run in the first quarter.
The Thunderbirds didn’t show the burst of energy they had in the opening quarter of their quarterfinal matchup yesterday, when they scored 28 points against TMU.
After the Rouge et Or built a 19-4 lead halfway through the quarter — keeping UBC largely to the outside — the Thunderbirds slowly regained their footing, inching within four points as Laval led 19-15 at the end of the opening period.
UBC tried to keep pace more efficiently in the second quarter, helped by multiple free throw opportunities and scoring 14 of 18 in the first half.
But points at the line seemed to be all they could muster, as Laval maintained their lead with strong physical play and timely three-point shooting.
“The physicality when you are playing in the final eight, I think it’s tougher than the regular season,” said Laval forward Chakib Sedoud.
Foul trouble continued for both teams throughout game, UBC taking 33 and Laval with 32.
After going on a 15-point run in the back part of the second quarter, the Rouge et Or went into halftime up 42-27, with guard Jayden Larosiliere leading the charge with 13 points.
UBC struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 10 per cent after two quarters.
Looking to mount a comeback after halftime, the closest the Thunderbirds came to Laval’s lead was nine points in the third quarter, though they scored their best frame of the game with 23 points.
“Obviously, yesterday was tough,” said Tomie, who put up 12 points on Saturday. “That’s part of being an athlete, and I guess part of being a man in a way. You gotta pick yourself up and doing our best to do that, but easier said than done.”
The Rouge et Or kept pace with 21 points of their own in the third quarter, maintaining control and taking a confident 63-50 lead into the final 10 minutes.
“I just feel like the guys matched their energy,” Tshibola said. “We were more physical than them in the first half, and they kind of picked it up in the second half, and I think we did a pretty good job matching.”
UBC chipped away early in the fourth, pulling within five at 67-62 after holding Laval to just four points through the first five minutes of the quarter.
Tshibola wasn’t about to let his team give up the momentum easily. Controlling the pace of play, he repeatedly drove to the basket, getting knocked down multiple times and drawing three consecutive fouls after UBC’s brief run. He finished with a team-leading 25 points.
The Thunderbirds tried to hold on, outscoring Laval 25 to 20 in the fourth, but it was not enough, as the Rouge et Or lived to see another day of the tournament.
“I think it’s good, however, we have lost yesterday so you cannot stay on line to the championship,” Sedoud said. “But I think we are still building. We have a young team to build to next season.”
They will face off against the Acadia Axemen at 1:00 p.m. EST tomorrow.
“We don’t want to end this season on a loss,” Tshibola said.
Consolation semifinal 2: Acadia Axemen 86, Calgary Dinos 77
Powered by a 27-point third quarter, the Acadia Axemen crushed the hopes of the Calgary Dinos at home, securing a spot in the fifth-place game of the consolation bracket against the Laval Rouge et Or. The Axemen defeated the hosting squad 86-77 in the second game of the tournament on Saturday.
“Not the way we want to end the season,” said Dinos fourth-year forward Dre Francis. “It’s been a long one. We fought all the way to the end. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys, for the freshmen that came in through the fire and the vets that are leaving. It’s definitely a tough way to go, but things got to end sometimes, and today was the day.”
“We fought, we made it to the playoffs, got a chance to play at Nationals, and not a lot of teams get to do that,” Francis added.
The Axemen, who fell to the Bishop’s Gaiters yesterday, extended their run in the nationals with a strong comeback performance, despite the hopes of hundreds of home fans cheering on the Dinos.
“Bishop’s is a good team,” said Acadia guard Briawne Wilson. “We used that loss to fuel us and motivate us for this game. We didn’t want to come all the way here from across Canada to lose two games.”
Calgary was the dominant team for nearly three quarters, but the young and bottom-seeded Dinos couldn’t match the speed and resilience of the fourth-seeded Axemen.
“We talked in the locker room about just giving effort,” Wilson said of their comeback after the second half. “We were getting a lot of shots we wanted in the first half, it just wasn’t dropping. So in the second half, we knew the same shots would come. It’s just effort on defense and playing harder than Calgary.”
The Dinos, eager to impress their home crowd, held the lead at the end of a quarter for the first time in the tournament to start things off.
The game stayed relatively close early on until a three-pointer from Dinos guard Eli Djordjevic with two seconds left in the first quarter gave Calgary a surge of momentum and a 26-18 lead heading into the second.
After a five-point run to open the second quarter, it felt like for every basket the Axemen scored, the Dinos answered with two of their own.
With 26 points in the paint to Acadia’s 12 by halftime, Calgary attacked the Axemen’s defense from all angles. The Dinos held a major edge in transition, recording 11 fast-break points — points scored quickly off turnovers or defensive rebounds before the opposing defense can set — while Acadia had none.
Calgary rookie guard Mrigendra was all over the court, leading the team with 11 points through two quarters while converting all five of his free-throw attempts.
Francis the Calgary rookies have been “go-to” players all season.
“When you throw young guys in to the fire, sometimes they don’t live up to the performance. But those guys definitely did all season, so I’m proud of them.”
The young Dinos squad headed into halftime with a 46-35 lead.
Holding a lead of eight points or more for most of the third quarter, the Dinos only faltered in the final minutes, as Acadia mounted a late push. The Axemen cut the deficit to one with just over a minute remaining before Robbie Grant converted a layup with 14 seconds left, giving Acadia a narrow 62-61 lead heading into the final frame.
“We had a lot of guys that stepped up,” Wilson said. Grant, staying hot, converted a three-pointer and followed it with a tip-in to open the fourth quarter, extending his team’s lead as they went on a 10-point run to start the period.
Grant led Acadia in points with 23, followed by Ryan Regault with 21 and Wilson with 15.
“I feel pretty good about my game,” Wilson said. “I feel like I helped bring back the deficit when we were down at halftime. I feel like I played pretty hard and trying to continue that for tomorrow.”
Calgary put up 16 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t match the Axemens; 26.
Fans stood on their feet to salute the home squad Dinos, as the teams shook hands after the final buzzer.
“Something I would take from this experience is that can’t take everything for granted,” Francis said. “You got to work hard from start to finish and make sure you give it your 100 per cent. Always gotta take risks, always gotta play hard, there’s no doubt about that. We’re going to take these losses, take our little break and then get back on and ready for next year.”
The Axemen will play the Laval Rouge et Or for fifth place in the tournament tomorrow afternoon.
Featured image by Zoe Pierce/the Charlatan
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