The Wolves played their final regular season home game on Friday night when they welcomed the George Brown Huskies (6-8) to the ARC in front of a boisterous crowd. The night also marked the final regular season home game in an Algonquin uniform for 7 graduating seniors. Prior to the game head coach Trevor Costello addressed the crowd and spoke about each of them, thanking them for their valuable contributions to the Algonquin men's basketball program.
Graduating Seniors: #4 CJ Gallaza, #6 Jansen Balmaceda, #8 Simon Desta, #9 Ted Braden, #12 Gezim Pjetergjokaj, #15 Matteo Mongroo, #21 Chris Lachapelle
5th year senior and Algonquin all-time leading scorer Simon Desta got his senior night off to a strong start and got the crowd going by knocking down a 3 from the top of the arc on the first possession. The rest of the quarter was a defensive battle with the Wolves maintaining a slim 14-11 advantage. Desta went 2 for 3 from deep in the opening frame to lead all scorers with 6 points.
The Wolves kept up their strong defensive play in the 2nd quarter holding George Brown to just 13 points on 23.5% from the floor. The Wolves also managed to find some offense thanks in large part to the play of 5th year senior Ted Braden who scored 8 of his 10 first half points in the frame. The big man did a good job of running the floor and Desta managed to find him for two transition dunks towards the end of the quarter. The Wolves extended their lead to 10 going into the break.
Another strong defensive effort in the 3rd allowed the Wolves to open up a 16 point lead going into the final frame. A sign of things to come, Albert Opena had 4 points in the quarter. Opena continued to have the hot hand in the 4th scoring 9 of his game high 15 points in the 4th. The 2nd year guard has been having strong offensive games for the Wolves as of late. Much to the delight of the hometown fans, the Wolves finished off the home part of the regular season with a 74-58 win.
As mentioned, Albert Opena led the way offensively with 15 points. Joining him in the double digit club was Ted Braden with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Simon Desta had 9 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Devonte Brooks and Tesloch Luk finished with 7 each.
The Wolves picked up their 10th win of the season to maintain their 4 seed in the OCAA East. With 2 games left next weekend their hopes of hosting a home playoff game is in their hands. The team will be in Belleville on Friday February 7th to take on the Loyalist Lancers (5-11) before finishing off the regular season in Kingston on Saturday at 3:00 pm against the St. Lawrence Surge (0-16).
