Griffins push No. 4 UBC to the brink before falling in final minutes

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Saturday's game was there for the taking in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, which is a situation every basketball player wants to be in.

It's a testament to the Griffins' turnaround that they were in that spot, but Lethbridge made more shots down the stretch and emerged with a 67-64 win, denying MacEwan its first win since November.

Specifically, the Griffins missed seven three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including four in the final 3:02 as they were neck and neck with the 'Horns.

"That was definitely the difference," said MacEwan men's basketball head coach David Kapinga. "Lethbridge made plays when it mattered and we missed some of the plays that really mattered for us."

With the result, the Pronghorns improve to 6-8, dropping the Griffins to 2-10.

While the shots didn't fall, though, Kapinga is proud of the effort shown by his group as they executed changes made to the game plan after Friday's 97-82 loss.

"I'm 100 per cent proud of the effort and that started last night in the fourth quarter," said Kapinga. "We talked about in the pre game, 'hey, this is the team we have to be; this is the team we are.' The guys listened and came out and executed. 

"You miss shots, you make shots, that's kind of how basketball goes, but in terms of executing the plan, playing with heart and intensity, creating extra possessions for ourselves, we did that."

Marcus ISO Moore led the Griffins with 14 points, while Favour Igbinyemi chipped in 10 off the bench. Dami Osuma was a force both ways in 26 minutes, narrowly missing a double double with nine points and 12 rebounds.

"We try to push Dami on getting more and more minutes at a time and Dami has taken that to heart," said Kapinga. "He's really pushing. He's done a really good job holding the team together, being a hub defensively, being a hub in terms of rebounding. 

"I'm really, really proud of him and what he's been doing. We just want him to continue doing that for our team. I think we have a really good chance to compete for playoffs."

To make it into the dance, the Griffins would need to finish in the top seven of the Prairie Division. Currently, that's Lethbridge, who are now four games ahead of the Griffins, so the work will certainly be an uphill climb.

Next on the journey is a pair of home games vs. Calgary (7-5) Jan. 16-17.

"Credit to Lethbridge for taking care of business at home," said Kapinga. "Our job was to push that. We did. My hope now is we take the lessons we learned into this weekend and bring it into our home and protect our home against the University of Calgary, which is something pretty close to me. It should be interesting."