Whats Up Kelowna

Heat hold off late charge from Royals and win 81-70

Men's Basketball

Friday January 21, 2011 - Box Score Attached

UBC Okanagan Gym - Kelowna BC

Douglas College Royals (3-7) – 71
UBC Okanagan Heat (7-3) – 80

·         Dan Briscoe 19 pts.

·         Micah Cockrill 17 pts.

·         Alex Roth 14 pts.

Full story after the jump 

KELOWNA, BC - Following the trend of the women just before them, the Men’s Basketball team utilized a strong defensive presence to stifle the Douglas College Royals Friday night as they won 81-70.  Alex Roth was named the Player of the Game, finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

The Heat came out of the gate with a strong defensive mindset as they forced 13 turnovers in the first half alone, including 10 steals that contributed to 15 fast break points.  The Heat were unafraid to get physical with their opposition, as Dave Mackay and Steve Morrison got into position in time to take two hard charges, further upsetting the Royals’ offensive rhythm early on.

Guards Dan Briscoe and this week’s BCCAA Athlete of the week Alex Roth combined for 25 of the Heat’s 35 first-half points, shooting a combined 60% from the field over that span.  Briscoe had a big night off the bench, finishing with a team high 19 points, including two big three pointers with the shot-clock running down.  “We call him ‘stops’”, Forward Dave Mackay said of teammate Briscoe, “because he always stops the runs and makes big shots.”

The Royals gathered themselves coming out of halftime, outscoring the Heat 19-18 in the 3rd and 21-17 in the 4th, coming as close as 69-63 with 3:30 left to play in the 4th.  Starting Royals forward Ameet Kaila finished with a game-high 21 points, although the Heat’s pressure on interior defense held him to 9/22 from the field.  It wasn’t enough though; the Heat forced 21 total turnovers and notched 5 more steals to pull away from the late rally.  As a team the Heat held the Royals to only 37% shooting.

Though the Royals boasted the top 2 leaders in rebounds per game so far this season, the Heat’s big men remained physical under the rim with the Royals, leaving the battle-of-the-boards a stalemate for each team at 46 apiece.  The notable difference in the game came from the Heat’s bench, however, who ended up outscoring the Royals 25-11, which included Dan Briscoe’s offensive showcase.

The team has made it a conscious effort to work on maintaining a defensive mindset coming into the second semester of league play, beginning with last week’s drubbing of the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.  “When we work hard on defense [then] everything else falls into place,” said Mackay, who picked the Royals’ pockets for a game-high 3 steals.  “Hopefully we can do that for a full 40 minutes in the next game.” 

The Heat tip off again Saturday night at 6:00 pm against Douglas in their second of back-to-back games this weekend.  The team hopes to possibly oust the UNBC Timberwolves for the 3rd seed with a second win against the Royals.