Calgary, ALTA. — With some Friday night action at Kenyon Court, The Mount Royal University Cougars and The University of Alberta Golden Bears went head to head for an exciting matchup. The Cougars started the first half with an impressive offensive run but the Golden Bears returned from halftime with a dominant second half. After coming up short late into the fourth quarter, the Golden Bears took a 79-71 victory.
Keivonte Watts started this Friday night matchup by firing off a swift three-pointer, just seconds after tipoff. Ethan Egert put the Golden Bears on the board off a quick floater shot.
Sam Barnie scored his first points on a fast break off of a steal from
Kole Scott.Watts cashed in both shots on the charity stripe, early into the first quarter.
Kuach Gajak got everyone on their feet after making a chase down block then found
Daniel Mulder with an open look in the paint, 9-2 for the Cougars. Later on, Nash Semeniuk drained a contested triple over the hands of a Cougars defender, drawing a Cougars timeout. Watts continued to put up shots behind the arc, scoring his second three. The Cougars would take a 9 point lead, 20-11. A skip pass to
Ijah Nelson ended in another triple for the Cougars. Isaac Simon cleaned up a hectic Golden Bears possession late into the quarter after beating his defenders for the putback bucket. Isaac also closed out the first quarter with a tough layup by cutting through traffic, 23-15 for the Cougars.
Simon forced a rather prompt timeout into the second quarter after cruising to the rim for a fast two points. A doubled up Mulder still found a way to swish a fade away jumper over the hands of Golden Bears players, 25-17. Despite Egert scoring two points, Scott responded with another 2 points for the Cougars and pushed the Golden Bears to take a timeout. Simon pushed the Golden Bears to 31-24 after successfully cashing in a triple. Mulder scored his 4th and 5th points at the free throw line, pushing the Cougars up 35-26. Kyle Varner capitalized on being left open at the arc, scoring his second triple. Watts finished the second half with a staggering 19 points, pushing the Cougars up 42-35.
Returning from halftime, the Golden Bears offense took off in the third quarter. Nate Waldron utilized a pick-and-roll to find the rim and score an easy two points. Then, Gajak rang in a three-pointer at the top of the arc, extending the Cougars lead to 47-40. However, Varner replied with his third triple after Gajak's. Simon cashed in back-to-back three's, forcing the Cougars timeout and securing the first lead for the Golden Bears, 51-49. Afterwards, the Golden Bears managed to hold down the Cougars offense for the rest of the quarter, only allowing 6 more points. Meanwhile, Simon, Varner, Egert, and Fahad Yusuf's efforts in the latter half of the third quarter contributed to a team high of 25 points. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 60-54 for the Golden Bears.
The start of the fourth quarter saw Egert muscling his way to the rim, making the bucket but missing out on the free throw attempt to follow. Right after, Barnie drained a wide open three to cut down the Cougars deficit to 5 points, 57-62. Barnie did not stop there as he pump faked one defender then successfully took it to the net, but missed the extra shot at the free throw line afterwards. Semeniuk, Varner, and Simon collectively scored 6 points within 60 seconds, but Barnie snuck another triple in the midst of a Golden Bears offensive run. After earning his 24th point of the night and putting the Golden Bears up 70-62, Simon checked out of the game. Late efforts from Nelson and Pigoue were not enough to recapture a Cougars lead. Ultimately, the Golden Bears secured the 79-71 victory on Kenyon Court.
Keivonte Watts is the player of the game from tonight's matchup. Watts scored 26 points, 8 field goals, 3 triples, 7/8 free throws, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
The Cougars will return to Kenyon Court tomorrow night for a rematch against the Golden Bears.
