Rustlers Basketball Hosts the Huskies
The Keyano Huskies basketball teams were in Lloydminster this past weekend to take on the Rustlers. The games were exciting to watch and the scores were close throughout the entire weekend.
The Rustler men started off the weekend on Friday night tipping off at 6:00 pm. The pace was fast and furious from the first whistle to the last. At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies held a slight lead over the Rustlers however, in the second quarter, the Rustlers stormed ahead and went into the half with a 42–38 lead. Keyano came out in the second half erasing the Rustlers' lead and winning quarters three and four to move on to a 90–78 victory over the home team. Jace Klinkner led all Rustler scorers with 19 points.
Saturday's game was also fast-paced with both teams having multiple chances to score. The Rustlers started the game strong by building a lead in the first quarter but only to see the Huskies fight back in the second quarter to move ahead going into the half. The Huskies built on their lead in the third quarter before the Rustler started to mount a comeback in the fourth. Unfortunately for the Rustlers, the comeback would fall short and the Huskies would leave the court with a 71–63 victory. Shaquai Manswell led the Rustlers with 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Jean Baptiste Otshudi chipped in 18 points for the Rustlers coming in off the bench.
In a rematch of 2019, ACAC Gold medal game the Rustlers women took on the Huskies in a physical battle. The Rustlers and Huskies battled back and forth in the first half which saw the Rustlers take a narrow 35-34 lead into the dressing room. The Rustlers played a steady second half and outscored Keyano in the next two quarters finishing the game with a 70–61 victory. Tori Dugan led the Rustlers with 18 points.
Day two saw the Rustlers battle hard again against the Huskies team showing that on this weekend there was very little to give between the two teams. In an almost identical score from the previous night, the Rustlers took a slim 1 point lead into the changeroom at the half 30–29. The teams were tied after the third quarter before the Rustlers pulled away in the fourth moving their record to 4 and 0 for the season after a 60–55 win. Bilge Topaloglu played a great game for the Rustlers dropping in 15 points and pulling down 9 rebounds to lead her team to victory.
Next up for the Rustlers is a single-game match-up against the Kings University Eagles on Friday. The men will be looking to get back on the winning track while the women will be working to move their record to 5 and 0.