Posted: Mar 01, 2025
March 1st - Game 9 MBB Championships
The final day of the 2024/2025 ACAC Basketball playoffs kicked off with the SAIT Trojans battling the Lakeland Rustlers for 5th place. Although there wasn't a medal on the line, both teams came out with a sense of intensity as they were determined to close out their tournament on a high note.
Lakeland started out fast as Matthew Bryant showed a hot hand early, helping his squad build a 14-7 lead out of the gate. SAIT tried to respond, but they were a little overly aggressive and took several fouls as the Rustlers managed to maintain the lead throughout the first ten minutes.
In the second quarter, SAIT's Jaden Matthews and Lakeland's Chance Samuel went shot for shot as the temperature of the game continued to rise. A hard foul by SAIT resulted in a pair of points for Lakeland, but it also seemed to be a turning point for the Trojans, who started to take over as the first half concluded. SAIT's Abu Jah drove hard to the basket and drew a foul as he put in a lay-up. The three point play kicked off a 9-0 run for the Trojans and they took their first lead of the afternoon 40-36 as the buzzer sounded.
The third quarter was all SAIT. Ryan Dekleva drained a 3-pointer and nothing seemed to go Lakeland's way. Jaxon Fisher scored 6 of his 15 points as SAIT's bench depth propelled them to a 59-45 lead that the Rustlers would never threaten. Although there was some nice shooting by Lakeland's Allayasa Bray in the final moments, SAIT showed some of the pedigree that saw them win six of the last seven ACAC championships. Finishing fifth might not be much of a consolation, but they did what they set out to do on this day. Players of the game were Matthew Bryant with 15 points and 5 rebounds for Lakeland, and Ryan Dekleva with 19 points for SAIT.