Ali Raza moves the ball against Saskatchewan's Lawrence Moore on Friday. He was the driving force behind MacEwan's late game charge to win the contest 101-83 (Robert Antoniuk photo).

January 9, 2018

Three Stars: Raza, Mrkonjic, Skoye earn honours

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Ali Raza is MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after leading the Griffins men's basketball team to a split against Saskatchewan in their first action back after the semester break.

Raza's performance down the stretch in Friday's 101-83 victory was particularly crucial as the Griffins nearly lost a 33-point first half lead only to have their leader carry them to the finish on his back.

Other athletes recognized this week include second star Tyler Mrkonjic of the men's hockey team and third star Kyrelle Skoye of the women's hockey squad.

Raza has now won first star honours in back-to-back weeks, albeit way back on Dec. 5 – the last time three stars have been recognized due to the semester break. Both Mrkonjic and Skoye are making the list for the first time this season.

1^st STAR: Ali Raza

W, men's basketball (Calgary, AB, third-year, Science)

The Griffins raced out to a 33-point lead in the first half against the Saskatchewan Huskies last Friday night, only to lose almost all of it.

That's when their leading scorer stepped in with some clutch veteran play down the stretch to help MacEwan secure a 101-83 win. Raza, at one point, made six points in a row to stretch the Griffins' lead back to double digits.

He finished with a team-high 19 points, adding six rebounds, three steals, two assists in 27 minutes.

In Saturday's 82-67 loss to Saskatchewan in the rematch, Raza again scored 19 points, adding eight rebounds, three assists and a block in 27 minutes.

For the season, Raza leads the Griffins with 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

2^nd STAR: Tyler Mrkonjic

F, men's hockey (St. Albert, AB, first-year, Arts)

Recording four assists in two games over the weekend, the rookie led the Griffins to a split against the SAIT Trojans.

Mrkonjic drew a helper on one of Brett Njaa's two goals in a 5-3 loss at SAIT on Friday before returning home with a bang. In Saturday's rematch, he had three assists – including helping to set up two third-period goals by Tyler Morrison and Taylor Mulder in the span of 1:12 that rallied them from one down to one ahead. He also set up Ryan Benn's first-period tally that opened the scoring in a 5-3 win for MacEwan.

For the season, the former Calgary Hitmen forward has two goals and eight assists in 16 games – second-best among Griffins freshmen.

Tyler Mrkonjic had four assists in two games against SAIT over the weekend (Len Joudrey photo).

3^rd STAR: Kyrelle Skoye

D, women's hockey (St. Albert, AB, second-year, Science)

The second-year defenceman had a great weekend for the Griffins women's hockey team on both the power-play and penalty kill.

That led to a two-goal game against the visiting Olds College Broncos on Saturday as MacEwan won 4-0, completing a weekend sweep (beating Olds 3-0 on Thursday).

Skoye scored the winner on Saturday when she struck on the PP just 3:07 into the contest. She added the Griffins' third goal at 11:19 of the second period.

Defensively, Skoye was a big reason why the Griffins didn't allow a goal on the weekend and conceded just 31 combined shots in two games against Olds.

For the season, Skoye has three goals and four points in 10 games.