The Kings win big in Red Deer against the Trojans, make it six in a row

Red Deer, January 27, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Basketball team put their five-game winning streak on the line against a rejuvenated SAIT Trojans team, who picked it up in the second half of the season after finishing the 2022 year with a record below .500. The Trojans are also on a winning streak of three games.

It was a traditional South Division basketball matchup with a whole lot of aggression, emotion, and defense. The Trojans had a slight 13-10 lead at the end of the quarter. But at this point, it was anyone's match and whoever came out with a better strategy to crack the tough defense would ultimately be the winner in the end.

The Kings would take their first lead of the game with a deep three by guard Eduardo Crespo (Academic Upgrading) and fellow Brazilian Bernardo Moller would follow that up with a three of his own putting the Trojans on their heel and calling a timeout. But a late surge by the Trojans gave them the 37-33 lead heading into halftime after a buzzer-beating layup by forward Jovani Cinfinix (Open Studies). It was another team effort to end the half for the Kings as all but one player on the roster had at least two points on the night. For the Trojans, guard Marc-Denault Gabriel led his team with 12 points at the half.

Down by just a few points going into the third quarter, the Kings fought and drained some pretty big three-pointers to come within striking distance of the Trojans. But the visitors were showing why they are a team to look out for in the second semester as they were matching what the Kings were bringing to the table in the second half. A big block by Kings post-Dennis Ennis (Open Studies) on forward Kuol Kuol (Open Studies) kept RDP tied for a moment but a three-pointer by Trojans Marcus Master before the buzzer put his team up by three heading into the fourth quarter.

It was a quarter of fouls as both teams were in foul trouble with both teams shooting bonus with three minutes left to play. With under a minute left to play, Ennis kept his team in the offensive zone after multiple offensive rebounds kept the Trojans in their own end. The Red Deer fans were into it for a second weekend in a row as it was a very close matchup and rose to the occasion when Ennis dunked it to seal the deal. The final score was 84-75.

The players of the game went to Trojans Amon Walker (Open Studies) and Kings Dennis Ennis. Walker had six points and four rebounds, and Ennis finished with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

These two teams will meet again tomorrow night in Calgary as the Trojans host the Kings at 8 pm.