Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
CALGARY – Save for a few lapses and late mistakes, the MacEwan Griffins threw a scare into one of the best men's basketball teams in the country on Friday night.
They played right with the Calgary Dinos until the wheels came off a bit in the fourth quarter and they fell to a 95-75 defeat in Canada West action.
"The guys competed and played well," said MacEwan head coach Mike Connolly. "We were right with the No. 11 team in the country and were with them for three-quarters of the game. We were pressuring them, we were doing some good things. Guys are coming along.
"The difference is we have some experience things where we fall asleep or lose our energy and that's when they score five or six in a row. That just comes with experience."
Fourth-year wing Mason Hunter had himself a night, scoring a game-high 27 points on 50 per cent shooting from the field.
"Tonight was all about Mason Hunter," said Connolly. "He controlled the play at the point, he shot the ball well from the three, he was making plays and passes. He was really good tonight."
Connolly also singled out the play of rookie point guard Eric Carretero Lopez, who finished with nine points, three assists and three steals.
"He played great," said Connolly. "He was beating them off the dribble, getting into the lane and getting stuff. It was a really good game for him. Even though it might not show up on the scoresheet, he did some really good things. I thought he played really well."
The Griffins led the game 20-14 after the first quarter and were down just two (46-44) at the half. The Dinos gained a 13-point lead after three (70-57), but MacEwan clawed back on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter before Calgary capitalized on some mistakes and cruised to the finish.
"There were too many turnovers," lamented Connolly. "We had 24 turnovers and they were sloppy, silly ones that got away from us. Then there were a couple of times where their experience executed better and they got some easy hoops. We fell asleep and that's the difference."
With the result, Calgary improves to 6-3 in the standings and MacEwan falls to 0-9.
The teams will meet again on Saturday (7 p.m., Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
