Men's Basketball Weekend Recap | January 28, 2018
The Lakeland Rustlers and Grande Prairie Wolves split the weekend series between the two teams in Lloydminster over the weekend, with the Rustlers coming out with the 87-84 win Friday night, while the Wolves took an 82-77 win Saturday afternoon.
The Rustlers defeated the Wolves 87-84 in a game that was close from tip-off Friday night, with it coming down to the final seconds to decide the winner. The Rustlers came out strong in the first quarter, holding the Wolves to 18 points while finding a variety of ways to score 28 points of their own. The Wolves fought back in the second quarter with strong defence and offense, cutting into the Rustlers lead. At the half, the Rustlers led 41-40. The two teams would go back and forth in the second half, trading baskets. The Rustlers were aggressive and able to draw fouls on the Wolves, allowing them to build a 63-59 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Wolves cut the Rustlers lead to 2 early in the fourth and kept the game within reach, but the Rustlers got the stops they needed to and hung on to win 87-84.
Player of the Game for the Rustlers with 28 points was #2, Prentice Gardner.
Following Friday's game, the team had won 5 of their last six games and the key to their success has been defence. "Our number one goal is to be the best defensive team," Gardner said. "We like to lock up on defence and hold teams under a certain number of points, and our offense will come to us."
In his third game back from injury, Rustlers third year guard Akeem Phillips also shared his thoughts on the game. "On the defensive end we've got to fix it up," Phillips said, "and on O (offense) we have to move the ball a little more. Our defence is getting better game by game; we just have to fix up the little things."
The two teams played another close game Saturday afternoon, this time with the Wolves coming out on top 82-77. The teams went back and forth in the first quarter with plenty of physical and aggressive play on both sides. After the first quarter, the Rustlers led 27-22. The teams continued going back and forth in the second quarter, with the Rustlers taking a 48-42 lead into the half. In the third quarter, both teams looked to push the ball, scoring in transition or drawing fouls.
At the end of the third, the Rustlers led 66-58. The Wolves had a strong fourth quarter, cutting the Rustlers lead to 4 after they had extended it to 11. The physical play continued as the Wolves took a 1 point lead with 2 minutes remaining. The Wolves would push their lead to 3, and the Rustlers could never recover, as the Wolves came away with the 82-77 win.
Player of the Game for the Rustlers was #6, Artavis Holiday, who led the team with 26 points.
The Rustlers return to the court next weekend, February 2nd & 3rd against the NAIT Ooks. The Rustlers will travel to Edmonton on Friday and return home Saturday as they partake in RBC's Make Some Noise for Mental Health. Saturday's game is set to get underway at 8:00 pm.