2019 Rustlers MBB Season Recap
In front of their home crowd, the Lakeland Rustlers men's basketball season came to a close, as they finished 5th in the ACAC Men's Basketball Championships held in Lloydminster February 28 – March 2.
The Rustlers were up and down to start the season, winning 2 of their first 3 games, before their inconsistencies caught up to them, losing 5 straight games. Sitting with a 2-6 record with 4 games remaining in the first semester, the Rustlers would finish with 4 straight wins. The 6-6 record after the first semester put the Rustlers in a tie for 3rd place in the ACAC North Division.
While they would be guaranteed a playoff spot as the host team, the Rustlers were looking to improve in the second semester and peak heading into playoffs. The teams had a rough start to the second semester, losing their first two games of the new year to the Concordia Thunder. The Rustlers would split the next two weekend series against the Keyano College Huskies and the Grande Prairie Wolves, before finding their stride in early February.
The Rustlers would start off February with 4 straight wins, earning the weekend sweeps over The King's University Eagles and the NAIT Ooks. With the 4 straight wins, the Rustlers improved to 6-4 on the semester and 12-10 on the season heading into the final 2 games of the regular season. In the regular season finale, the Rustlers would be swept by the University of Alberta – Augustana Vikings.
The Rustlers finished the regular season with a 12-12 record, going 6-6 in each semester. The 12-12 record would have the Rustlers finish as the #4 seed in the ACAC North Division, resulting in a quarter-final matchup at the ACAC Men's Basketball Championship against the #1 seed from the south division, the SAIT Trojans.
To open the ACAC Championships, the Rustlers would be faced with a large task, the SAIT Trojans, the reigning ACAC Champions and a team who would only have 1 loss on the season to this point. Lakeland was able to keep the game close for much of the first 3 quarters, with the crowd on their side. In the fourth quarter, the Trojans were able to pull away and defeat the Rustlers, sending Lakeland to the consolation side of the championship bracket.
The Rustlers would need to win their consolation semi-final Friday afternoon in order to extend their season and get one more game in front of their home crowd. With the energy of their home crowd behind them, the Rustlers would defeat the Keyano Huskies in the consolation semi-final, and the Red Deer Kings in the consolation final, to finish 5th at the ACAC Championships. To finish off the weekend, fourth-year forward Artavis Holiday was named a 2nd team tournament all-star.
Prior to the ACAC Championships getting underway, Holiday was named a north division all-conference first-team selection. Holiday played a crucial role for the Rustlers this season, leading his team in scoring and rebounding. While averaging 30.0 minutes per game, Holiday up 15.7 points and grabbed 8.5 rebounds, while also adding 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals.
Following the season, Rustlers Head Coach Sheray Thomas had the following to say about his teams' season. "It was an okay season for us," Thomas said, "we were definitely faced with some adversity early on and the north division was pretty strong. Heading into provincials, we didn't put ourselves into the position we wanted, as we faced a tough SAIT team in the first round, who would go on to win it all. We responded though and won our next two games against two #2 seeds to finish 5th and end the season with two wins."
"Looking ahead to next year, the goal is always the same", Thomas said, "looking to win provincial and national goal. There is a good chance to have everyone returning and a solid core of 5th year guys so that will be big for us."