MBB Championship Recap | March 5, 2018
The Lakeland Rustlers Men's Basketball team finished second in the ACAC Men's Basketball Championships on the weekend.
The Rustlers faced the Medicine Hat Rattlers Thursday night in their opening game of the tournament. The Rustlers defeated the Rattlers 86-81. The Rustlers were led by 2nd-year guard Adrian Richards with 24 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Third year forward Artavis Holiday had 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, while 4th-year forward Paul Smith-Profit added 12 points, 11 rebounds three steals and two assists.
The Rustlers faced the Concordia Thunder in the semi-final Friday night. The Rustlers and Thunder had just faced each other a week prior, with the Thunder winning both games. This weekend, however, it was the Rustlers that would come out on top with a 92-82 win. The Rustlers were led by second year guard Brandon Isaac with 23 points, two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Fourth year forward Prentice Gardner had 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal for the Rustlers while fourth year guard Terrell Murdaugh added 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
The gold-medal game Saturday had the Rustlers facing the SAIT Trojans, who had won the ACAC Men's Basketball Championships the year before. The Rustlers led early on, but the Trojans experience from having been in the game the year before was too much for the Rustlers, as the Trojans won 88-77. Richards once again led the Rustlers with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Gardner added 17 points, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Rustlers Head Coach Sheray Thomas spoke about the complete team effort shown over the course of the weekend, helping the Rustlers earn the silver medal.
"The game against Med Hat was back and forth," Thomas said, "and it was a physical game. PJ (Gardner) turned his ankle and missed most of the game, but taped it up and hit a big 3 for us late, giving us the lead and then we were able to pull it out. Friday, we were confident heading into the game against Concordia. Having lost two the weekend before, we figured it would be a good game and the guys would be motivated. That game was a complete team effort, and everyone played well. In the final, our defence wasn't up to par. We didn't come out with the same intensity as SAIT, and even though we made a big push before the half, we had guys in foul trouble and weren't as aggressive."
"It was really a team effort this weekend," Thomas said. "Adrian (Richards) had a tremendous weekend on both ends of the floor – scoring, assists, rebounding and probably should have been named a tournament all-star, PJ hit some big shots, Brandon (Isaac) played well against Concordia - hitting lots of 3's and was emotional, I could go on about everyone. Terrell (Murdaugh) and Paul (Smith-Profit) were tournament all-stars."
The Rustlers will now prepare for the CCAA Basketball Championships being held March 14th-17th in Laval, QC. The Rustlers will face the Seneca Sting in their first game on Thursday, March 15th at 1:30 PM ET.