Centennial Colts men's basketball head coach Trevor Challenger questioned his team's toughness heading into a timeout, with the Colts up 32-28 late in the second quarter against the Alqonquin Thunder. The Colts responded and took control.
The Colts (3-1) beat the Thunder (0-3), 83-66, in a wire-to-wire victory, for their third straight win, at the Athletic and Wellness Centre on Saturday November 5th, 2016.
Once again, defense and rebounding were the keys to the game as the Colts had 13 steals and forced the Thunder to shoot only 32.0 per cent from the field and also forcing 18 turnovers. They also outrebounded the Thunder, 56-48 with 20 second chance points.
It was a balanced attack for the Colts as four players scored in double figures. Marko Curic led the team with 25 points and 8 rebounds, guard Alex Hagoriles poured in 12. Josh McFarlene and Malique Hyde each had double-doubles in the victory, as Mcfarlene had 14 points and 11 assists while Hyde chipped in with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The game was close for most of the first half before the Colts closed out the second quarter on a 14-1 run to lead the game 46-29 at the half. The team then cruised their way to victory. Men's Varsity Head Coach Trevor Challenger said that the team really responded after he urged them to play tougher.
"Our team played a little bit relaxed," Challenger said. "I got the guys pumped up a little bit and I thought they played well towards the end of the quarter." Mcfarlene admitted the energy was not there in the second half as well because of the comfortable lead that the Colts had. "We didn't bring the same energy," Mcfarlene said. "The defense was up-tempo at first, but we just started getting lazy after. Definitely things to work on for next game."
Despite having an off-shooting night from the field, Hagoriles, who had 11 of his 13 points in the second half. "I tried to do other things to help the team. I'm was trying to get my teammates involved," the shooting guard said. "Just trying to work on defense as well and make sure we get transition opportunities." Hagoriles admitted that he felt relieved after seeing a three pointer go down in the second half. "All I could do is look up and thank the Lord," Hagoriles said, laughing. "Honestly, it's been a while since I've hit a shot."
Hagoriles credited his team's resolve and calmness for not letting the game get out of hand physically.
"We stayed calm, and did not get into fights. We wanted to keep to ourselves," Hagoriles said. "We don't want to risk anyone not playing for the rest of the season."
There were tense moments in the game as each team committed 21 personal fouls and Alqonquin had three technical fouls, compared to one from Centennial's Paul Walwyn. The Colts came away unscathed from the battle. Centennial finishes its home stand tomorrow afternoon at 2pm against the La Cité Thunder.