Griffins unable to erase massive first-half deficit, but can build off of strong late surge vs. Pronghorns

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Running into a red-hot shooting Lethbridge team that could barely miss from beyond the arc in the first half, the Griffins were forced to try and claw back from a 28-point deficit in the final 20 minutes.

They got half of it back, but still suffered a 97-82 defeat that drops them to 2-9 in the Canada West standings. The Pronghorns are now 5-8, and are sitting in the final playoff spot in the Prairie Division. 

In the first half, Lethbridge shot at a ridiculous 76.5% rate from three-point land, which led to them dropping 69 points on the Griffins.

"It's really hard to compete with that when you allow a team to shoot that well from three," said Griffins head coach David Kapinga.

"To shoot that well, you've got to give them credit for hitting those shots, but I think we made it a little bit easier for them to hit those shots."

The Pronghorns were led by Kyami Pollard, who went off to the tune of 35 points, including hitting four threes. Karter Fry added 12 and both Joe Lemieux and Mason Hoffman chipped in 11.

MacEwan was paced by Diego Presingular, who scored 25 points, while adding four steals. Marcus ISO Moore had 19 points, while Job Janda added 12.

"Diego had a really big game for us in terms of steals, making shots and creating for the guys," said Kapinga. "But I also give Dami (Osuma) big props. He did a great job holding us up defensively, communicating back there to make sure we can pressure and grab rebounds. And then he finished on the inside, which is something we've been lacking a lot of."

The Griffins can build off of their second half when they held the Pronghorns to just 28 points. 

"We did a better job of containing and switching things up a little bit," said Kapinga. "That caught them by surprise, I believe. It gave us a chance to get going and make sure the spread doesn't widen and gets smaller between the teams. We did a good job coming back in the fourth, utilizing the free throws to keep scoring."

The teams will meet again on Saturday (7 p.m., Canada West TV) and MacEwan is aiming for a big rebound to get into the win column for the first time since Nov. 1 when they knocked off nationally-ranked Winnipeg.

"I think aggression is what I need to see," said Kapinga. "I need to guys not playing timid – playing to win, not to lose. I think just following the game plan from the get go. I think that was one big thing. Guys freestyled a little bit, for some reason, and it allowed Lethbridge to take over. 

"Hopefully tomorrow, we can make some adjustments, execute those and hopefully get a better result."