Lions Fall to Top Seeded Kodiaks
Lions Fall to Top Seeded Kodiaks
Coming off a nailbiter 92-91 OT loss to the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings, the Ambrose Lions looked to put an end to their 2-game losing streak against the 11-3 Lethbridge College Kodiaks at home.
Kicking off the first quarter Ambrose opened the scoring but Lethbridge quickly responded with an 11-0 run to take an early hold on the game. The undersized Lions struggled to keep the Kodiaks off the offensive boards with the 6'10 Declan Peterson on the floor. After holding the Lions to just one made field goal over the last 5-minutes of the quarter the Kodiaks finished the quarter ahead 22-12
Isaac Gray led the way for the Lions scoring his teams first 9 points of the quarter. A three from Ty Schenk would bring the Lions within 5 at the halfway mark but Paycen Blackmore who paced the offense for the Kodiaks helped them bounce back to maintain an 8-point lead into the break leading 38-30.
The Kodiaks offensive firepower continued to grow the lead in the third to 15 just a couple minutes into the quarter. Brady Baines had his strongest quarter for the Kodiaks putting up 10 of his 12 points off the bench in the quarter. The Lions eventually got things going, scoring on their last 5 shots of the quarter, but the Kodiaks matched them to maintain their advantage 69-53 going into the fourth.
The Lions tried to take on the tall task of overcoming their 16-point deficit. With 5:33 to go a free-throw from Guilherme Ferriera got them within 9, but that was as close as they would bring it. Despite having a strong quarter, it wasn't enough against the rock steady Kodiaks as the Lions eventually fell 84-74 to drop their 3rd game in a row for a 7-8 overall record.
Player of the game awards were given to Lions #5 Lucas Pederson and Kodiaks #12 Paycen Blackmore. The teams will rematch Saturday night in Lethbridge as Ambrose tries to put an end to their 3-game skid.