Broncos charge back to stun Thunder

The Olds College Broncos overcame an early 19-point deficit to defeat the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder 94-88 at the Ralph Klein Centre on Saturday.

Kenny Bates turned in a dominant performance for the Broncos (3-5) as he finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, while Peter Adonri added 22 points and five assists, and Gurech Gurech chipped in with 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

For the Thunder (4-6), Yaadvir Dhaliwal led the way with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Milton Lendein posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Nick Gibb added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Thunder came out hot to start the game, knocking down six of 12 three-point attempts to open up a 32-13 gap after one quarter of play, only for the Broncos to slowly start chipping away in the second to cut Concordia's lead to 53-40 at halftime.

Bates made his presence felt in the third quarter with eight points to help the Broncos further cut the gap as they reduced Concordia's lead to 71-65 heading into the fourth.

The teams largely traded baskets for the majority of the final frame, though the Thunder held an 86-77 lead with 4:58 remaining courtesy of a three-pointer from O'Ryan Wallace. However, the Broncos closed on a 17-2 run, with Adonri accounting for nine points in that time.

The Broncos will host the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings on Friday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m., while the Thunder are now on their Christmas break. All ACAC basketball games are available to watch live on ACACTV.ca, or on TELUS OptikTV channel 1998.

Players of the Game
OLDS | Kenny Bates
CUE | Yaadvir Dhaliwal