Men's basketball eliminated early by 77-71 loss
By Ryan Rogers
Sports Editor
March 5, 2008
The Lancers men’s basketball team was dealt a silencing blow to their best-laid plans with a devastating loss, and consequent elimination from the OUA playoffs, to the Western Mustangs over the reading week.
The Lancers were afforded a bye for the quarter finals of the playoffs due to their outstanding record of 17 wins and five losses, which placed them atop of the OUA West Division, and so this was their first game of the playoffs.
While loaded with veterans and experienced starters, like Kevin Kloostra, Ryan Steer, Greg Allin and Greg Surmacz, the Lancers were eliminated in their first playoff game of the year, as they were set to defend their Wilson Cup championship from last season.
Head coach Chris Oliver said, “Sometimes it comes down to making the shots. We missed a lot of shots, we missed a lot of free throws. I don’t know what our percentage was, but probably as bad as we’ve shot free throws in a while. And let’s be honest, they hit some tough threes, some deep tough threes.” The Lancers shot only 68 per cent from the free throw line, taking only 17 points from their 25 trips to the line. The Mustangs, on the other hand, shot 89 per cent from the free throw line, in their mere nine trips shots.
The score was close through the whole game, as the Lancers took an early lead in the first quarter, but relinquished it before the end of the first half. In the third quarter, the Mustangs rebounded well and made crucial three-point shots to keep them afloat during the game.
The Lancers looked like they would challenge to overtake the lead when Kevin Kloosta infused the team with some much needed offense towards the end of the third quarter. Kloosta only played 12 minutes of the game due to his recovery from knee surgery back in January, but provided an offensive spark to carry the team out of scoring funk in the second half.
Opening the fourth, the veteran leaders on the team continued to give the Lancers a lift, as Ryan Steer and Kloostra nailed free throws, jump shots, three-pointers, and were drawing fouls. Greg Surmacz also contributed with strong play on the boards and took the ball heavy to the net racking up a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds for the night.
But the Mustangs dropped a devastating three-pointer with seconds remaining, as the Lancers would require at least two scoring plays within the final four seconds of the game.
That final three-pointer sealed the deal for Western, and the assembled crowd took their jackets and began filing out of the gymnasium before the final buzzer sounded. The fans were speechless.
What set the Mustangs apart was their three-point shooting, which deflated most comeback attempts from the Lancers. Jason Milliquet of the Mustangs made six three-point shots and led Western with 22 points.
“I feel bad for these four graduating seniors,” said Oliver. “I hope people don’t judge them based on this game, because they had tremendous careers and they brought excitement back to this gym and I can promise you next year we’re going to be real good and we’ll be back in the top ten,” he said.
Oliver assured, “We’re going to be competing once again for a league national championship.”
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