Briercrest bounces back in three-point shootout

Caronport, SK. January 25th saw the Briercrest Clippers Men's basketball team hosting the St.Mary's Lightning. 

Coming off a loss last night, Briercrest was looking to bounce back in this Saturday afternoon game. St.Mary's got ahead early, taking an 8-2 lead in the first few minutes of play. The clippers then got going on offence and took a 12-10 lead, though they trailed 17-16 to start the second. 

In the second quarter, Briercrests #11 Brandon Tolentino knocked a pair of three-pointers and #7 Brolin Simes added two more himself causing St.Mary's to take a timeout down 33-26. The final five minutes of the quarter were evenly matched and the two teams went into half with Briercrest up 38-36.

In the third, St.Mary's scored the opening 8 points leading 46-38 causing the clippers to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, Briercrest was strong as they tied the game back up at 51. The Clippers closed the quarter strong and went into the fourth up 62-55. 

Starting the final quarter, the teams traded baskets and with five minutes left in the game the score was 70-66 for the Clipper. In the final few minutes, the teams traded three-pointers, but Briercrest held off the lightning and won the game by a score of 84-80. 

The player of the game awards were presented by former mens basketball coach Justin Wolvertoon and went to St. Mary's #12 Will Konybai, who had 24 Points, 7 Rebounds and 5 Assists. For Briercrest the award went to #6 Nic Gregerson who recorded 29 Points, 13 rebounds and 2 steals in the win.   

After the game, Gregerson had this to say about his teams performance: "We had a tough loss on Friday night, but I'm happy to see us bounce back today. It was a good overall team win and everyone played hard and we did our thing".

The Clippers are back in action next weekend as they travel to Old's Alberta to take on the Broncos.