The Camosun Chargers basketball teams lost their home openers against the VIU Mariners on Friday, November 4, but showed hope for success in the future.
The Camosun women’s team opened their season at home against the number-one ranked team in the nation, the Vancouver Island University Mariners. Despite a strong first quarter by the home team, the Chargers could not keep the same pace throughout the remainder of the game, resulting in a 54-63 loss to start their season.
The first quarter saw the Chargers come out strong led by Kanda Diop, who had 7 points and 4 rebounds to start the game. She finished the game with a double-double, scoring 16 points combined with 10 rebounds. The team had their best offensive showing in this quarter, shooting 44 percent from the field, and they kept the score close by only going down by 3 points.
The next two quarters were dominated by VIU mainly due to Camosun’s shooting struggle, where they were only able to shoot 16 percent from the field. In the fourth quarter, the Chargers improved their shooting and threatened to make a late comeback but, ultimately, couldn’t stop VIU’s offense.
The Chargers showed that they can compete against successful teams like VIU, especially when the starters are on the court. Tegan Michel, Rhiannon Ware, and Diop accounted for 44 of the team’s 54 points. Camosun has a talented group that can contend for this year’s PACWEST championship.
The men’s basketball team followed in an exciting, close battle against the VIU Mariners. The team lead for most of the game, but ultimately ended up losing to the Mariners—who are ranked second in Canada—55-64.
The Chargers had a great start of the game where they held the Mariners to only 17 points in the first half, and went into the halftime break with an 8 point lead.
The third quarter was Camosun’s best in terms of shooting, but, unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up with VIU’s 26-point third quarter. The teams held the suspense going into the fourth quarter tied 46-46.
Camosun’s star of the night, David Finch, had an amazing end of game, scoring all of the Chargers’ 12 points in the fourth quarter. But the team wasn’t able to score any 3-pointers in crunch time, going 0-6 in the last minutes of the game. Camosun lost 55-64 despite a great effort by the whole team.
The men’s team showed great chemistry, getting a lot of open looks for 3-point shots. The bench also accounted for almost half the points, with 22. Regardless of the loss, the Chargers men’s basketball team also showed that they are a strong contender for this year’s PACWEST championship.
Both Chargers teams lost, but they showed that they are very talented with great heart and passion for the game of basketball.
The Chargers basketball teams are back at home on Saturday, November 12 against Langara, while the Chargers volleyball teams are playing at home on Friday, November 11, and Saturday, November 12.