Mohamed shines in up tempo loss to Briercrest
By Jacob Mclarney
The Olds College Broncos men's basketball team lost 94-77 to the Briercrest College Clippers in the Olds College Staff and Faculty Appreciation Game Friday, January 31, 2020.
The teams honored the passing of Kobe Bryant to start the game with eight second back court and 24 second shot clock violations.
The game started off very quick with Landon Parrington scoring six quick points for the Broncos, but the game would stay even for the rest of the quarter. Both teams used a lot of inside cuts and trying to beat their man one-on-one but ultimately the styles ended with much more passing and moving as well as outside shots on both sides. The Broncos started to get into foul trouble very early on with five within the first seven minutes with Briercrest not far behind earning four with two minutes left. The Broncos were playing good defense and were getting into good spots offensively, just had a bit of trouble with converting their opportunities later on in the quarter. 26-17 was how the quarter finished with Briercrest starting to heat up towards the end.
It was clear the Broncos had a bit of trouble clicking a couple of times towards the end of the last quarter but they were figuring out their offense as well as overall movement on and off ball. Briercrest came out just as strong however trying to increase their lead as much as possible without all their starters. With a minute left in the 2nd quarter, the game was only an 11 point difference. End of the second quarter had Briercrest up 47-36.
The start of the third quarter was starting to get out of hand for the Broncos as number Briercrest's Brandon Tolentino was lighting it up on the scoreboard especially with his perimeter shots. The Broncos were trying to make something happen but Briercrest was relentless with their hustle and transition defensively. Ben Nelson for the Broncos was also making notable plays especially with his range from the deeper areas of the court amassing 17 points by the end of the game. Briercrest was starting to run away with the game and it seemed that all the Broncos could do was watch, as they were down 72-59 after three quarters.
Chris Chetham for Briercrest was starting to lead the floor throughout most of the second half but especially with his quick drives inside to force the defense to make a play on him. Muktar Mohamed was continuing to fight for the win for the Broncos until the end with his offensive contributions coming from all over the court his tough defense, and his distribution. Briercrest had made a few threes that bounced their way in but they were doing very well with pushing the floor quickly and finding the open man as well as crashing the boards. Final score was in favor of the Clippers with 94-77.
The Pit Barbecue Player of the Game for the Broncos was Muktar Mohamed with a game high 31 points, four assists and seven rebounds, and Player of the Game for the Clippers was Tolenetino with 30 points, five assists and eight rebounds.
Briercrest led the game in rebounds 41-28, assists 19-18 and steals 14-10. Both teams had one block. Game leaders for the Broncos were Alec Hilman with a game high nine rebounds and one block and a team high four assists and three steals.
The Broncos host Briercrest College again Saturday, February 1.
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