Friday February 7th @ Loyalist
The Wolves entered the final weekend of the regular season with hopes of securing the 4th seed in the East and a home crossover game. They started the weekend off in Belleville against the Loyalist Lancers (5-11) who were playing for their playoff lives, entering the day in 7th with Fleming and La Cité on their heels. Algonquin and Loyalist have had some good battles in recent history, with the game often being determined by one possession. They have also split the season series with Loyalist winning the pre-season meeting at the Battle of the St. Lawrence, and Algonquin taking the regular season matchup in the 1st semester.
The 1st quarter was evenly played with the Lancers gaining a slim 15-14 lead after the 1st 10 minutes. Tesloch Luk and Ted Braden had 4 points each in the opening frame.
The game began to go south for the Wolves in the 2nd quarter as the Lancers outscored them 22-11 in the frame to take a 12 point lead into halftime. Algonquin was held to just 17.4% from the field while the Lancers shot an efficient 50%. Tesloch Luk continued to lead the Wolves with 9 points at the half.
Algonquin had a more efficient quarter offensively scoring 21 points on 50% from the floor and 9-10 from the foul line. Unfortunately, the Lancers responded with their best offensive quarter scoring 27 points on 61.1%.
Down 18 to start the 4th and Loyalist with all the momentum, the Wolves chances of winning looked slim. They started the quarter with a lineup of Tesloch Luk, Simon Desta, Matteo Mongroo, Devonte Brooks and Shyeem Brown. Brown has played sparingly this season and was seeing his 1st action of the contest. Simon Desta got the Wolves rolling by knocking down a deep pull-up 3 to cut into the lead. The Wolves would manage to put together consecutive stops on the defensive end and Tesloch Luk would score the next 5 points for Algonquin to cut the lead down to 12 with 7:20 to go. At this point Ted Braden who was having a strong game would re-enter for the Wolves. This move would pay off, with Braden grading a rebound and putting it back up for the and 1 just seconds later to cut the Lancers lead to 10. With just under 6 minutes remaining, Trevor Costello would call a timeout with his team down 10, in much better shape than they were to start the period. After the timeout, Algonquin kept up the pressure defensively and managed to gain the lead 70-69 on a Ted Braden made layup with 2:20 to go. The Wolves would go down 72-70 but Devonte Brooks would power through to score a layup on the baseline to tie the game. The Wolves pressure resulted in a Tesloch Luk steal on the following possession. Algonquin would bring the ball into the front court and Desta would find Brooks at the top of the arc. Brooks faked the handoff and attacked the rim and got fouled on the shot causing him to lose balance and hit the wall hard underneath the basket. Brooks would be unable to shoot the free throws forcing Jansen Balmaceda to come off the bench cold to knock down 2 free throws with 29 seconds left and the Loyalist crowd going crazy. Balmadeca managed to hit both, giving his team a 74-72 lead. The Wolves would come up with the stops they needed down the stretch to sneak away with a 74-72 win completing the 18 point comeback. The Wolves outscored the Lancers 28-8 in the final 10 minutes to get the job done. It is not often that you talk about someone who had 0 points as an impact player, but it is worth noting the effect Shyeem Brown had on this game. After sitting for the 3 quarters, he came in and made a huge difference defensively, keeping the Lancers guards off balance. He guarded the Lancers best player Jayden Jack on one of the final possessions forcing him into a tough shot. Brown also secured the rebound on one of the final possessions. Without him, this comeback does not happen. Tesloch Luk finished with a game high 21 points. Ted Braden had 16 points and 8 boards. Devonte Brooks was the last Wolf in double figures with 10 points, 6 of which came in the 4th quarter. Brooks also added 6 rebounds. Simon Desta had 6 points, all in the 4th. The Win improved the teams record to 11-6, putting them in the driver's seat to clinch the 4th seed.
Saturday February 8th vs St. Lawrence
The Wolves closed out the regular season in Kingston. They were taking on a St. Lawrence squad who was hungry to pick up their 1st win of the season. A win for the Wolves would clinch the 4th seed and a right to host a home playoff game.
Similar to the night before, the Wolves started out sluggish, trailing by as much as 9 in the first half. They managed to dig themselves out, finishing the half on a run that cut the Surge lead to 3 going into the break.
Algonquin proved that they were the better team in the 2nd half, out scoring St. Lawrence 54-37 on route to a 96-82 win. The big story in this game was 5th year guard Simon Desta. The Algonquin all-time leading scorer went out with a bang, knocking down 9 3's and scoring 29 points. Desta shot 50% from 3 and 9 out of his 10 field goals were from deep. The other one was a turnaround jumper to end the 1st half. Devonte Brooks had 14 points, CJ Gallaza had 11, Jansen Balmaceda and Ted Braden had 10 each.
The Wolves improved their record to 12-6 and will finish 4th in the OCAA East. They will be back at home on Saturday February 15th at 3:00 pm for the 1st round of the OCAA playoffs.