Route 90 Collision At The Loewen Sees Men's Basketball Upset Rebels
It's not how the game starts, but how it finishes. That was the story on Saturday night as Men's Basketball overcame a first half deficit to the undefeated Red River College, handing the Rebels their first loss of the season and evening the annual Route 90 Showdown series with the Rebels.
Trailing by 9 at the end of the first quarter and 7 at halftime, the Rebels led by as many as 13 midway through the third quarter before momentum began to shift in favour of CMU. Rookie guard Jaden Harms (pictured) tied the game 56-56 with 3:45 left in the third to cap a 13-2 run for the Blazers and second-year forward Sam Kinsley, who was held out of Friday night's meeting between the two MCAC rivals due to injury, dropped a three-point dagger on the Rebels to give CMU their first lead of the game, 59-56.
The Hapnot Collegiate graduate scored a game-high 13 points in the first half and ended the night with 24, adding 13 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists to earn Player of the Game honours.
Not to be outshone, rookie point guard Ridel Ebreo made a huge contibution in the second half for the home team. After scoring just two points in the opening 20 minutes on 1 for 3 shooting from the field, the Faith Academy product was instrumental in the third quarter comeback, adding 9 in the quarter and 13 in the second half on 5 for 8 shooting, with 2 offensive rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.
CMU did all this without the services of third-year sharpshooter Matt Warkentin and rookie defensive-dynamo Evan Klassen, who were both absent with injuries.
The win brings the Blazers record back to a game above.500 at 6 wins with 5 defeats as they sit a half-game above third-place Providence, who defeated the College Wesmen on Friday night to keep pace with CMU.
Men's Basketball is back on a NIAC court this weekend with they travel to Belcourt, North Dakota this weekend for games Saturday and Sunday at Turtle Mountain Community College. The Mickinocks are winless on the season with a record of 0-6. Turtle Mountain recently had a win removed from their record after it was uncovered that player(s) were ineligible to compete in their only win that came December 2nd against Cankdeska Cikana Community College. CMU sits in second place in NIAC with a record of 5-3.
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