The Spartan journey out East
For many of us, it was a weekend spent getting access for TSN2, finding a house to hold the party, and sitting down day by day and enjoying the Spartans basketball team as they rolled through the quarter and semi-final. It is also hard to imagine that the weekend almost didn’t happen.
photo: Scott Stewart
On the same night that the Spartans men’s volleyball team won their CIS National Championship at the LEC, many students, fans, and alumni were violently finger tapping their smartphones and keyboards trying to discover if the Spartans men’s basketball team would be given the wildcard berth. With much confusion over the process and numerous Facebook postings about the results, it was clear no one really knew what the fate of the Spartans team would be.
And then it happened. At around 3:00 p.m., the official participants were posted for the CIS National Basketball Championships in Halifax and sure enough, Trinity Western University had found a spot. The Spartans were ranked #5 on the list and the boys headed out east almost immediately.
The Spartans were paired against the number four seed in the tournament, the Lakehead Thunderwolves, who had defeated the Carleton Ravens earlier in the OAU semi-final in a shocker to clinch a tournament spot. As a result, predictions from various CIS sources and media outlets predicted the Spartans to lose a close game that would send them into the consolation round. But Kyle Coston had other ideas.
The Spartans came out on Friday afternoon with energy and passion. The team shot the ball well, used their big men effectively, and used their height and strength down low to eliminate Lakehead from any rebounding opportunities. The Spartans also overcame a late push by the Thunderwolves, something they had struggled with against the Saskatchewan Huskies during their semi-final loss in the Canada West playoffs. In the end, Jacob Doerksen and Coston led the way for the Spartans with 20 points each and Calvin Westbrook supplying his own 16 points in the 82-74 victory.
After the Spartans first victory at Nationals ever, their next opponent, the UBC Thunderbirds and number one ranked team in the tournament, were for sure to end the Spartans title hopes. The Spartans hadn’t beaten the Thunderbirds all year and with various losses throughout the years at Nationals, the Thunderbirds looked primed to clinch a national title.
The game started out that way too. The Spartans came out rather poorly on TSN2, digging themselves a hole early on that saw them down as many as 16 in the game. The Thunderbirds looked strong, countering the Spartans strengths down low and finding space on the floor for good looks. But at halftime, something changed. The Spartans looked like a different team coming back to the floor in the second half and started chipping away at the deficit.
Using their strong transition game and Kyle Coston’s breakout tournament, the Spartans found themselves down one with less then 30 seconds in the game. After swinging the ball at the top, the ball found fifth year PG Daniel Horner in the corner baseline, who quickly sent the ball to Coston who nailed a three-pointer with 11.6 seconds to give the Spartans a two point lead. After UBC hit the rim on the final shot, the Spartans had done the impossible and clinched a berth against the Carleton Ravens in the final.
The Spartans would go on to finish in second place to win the silver.
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