Hugo Alonso drives around a Mount Royal defender on Friday night (James Maclennan photo).
Hugo Alonso drives around a Mount Royal defender on Friday night (James Maclennan photo).
November 2, 2024

Griffins fall by three points to MRU in hard-fought home opener battle

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Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics 

EDMONTON – Losing by just three points to a playoff team from last season isn't the moral victory it once was for a veteran group of Griffins players who valiantly fought to the final whistle in their home opener on Friday night.

When Hugo Alonso's three-pointer at the buzzer missed and the clock ticked to zero with the final 93-90 for the visiting Mount Royal University Cougars, disappointment came over them in a wave.

The Griffins came so close to ending a program losing streak that has now hit 69 games, dating back to 2019. But close isn't what they're here for.

"We've been in close games last year, as well," said fourth-year veteran Milan Jaksic. "That was the main lesson for the returning guys. This year, it's just trying to close the game out. 

"That's a really big lesson that we've just got to push through and learn. How to get that last bucket, how to win that, how to go to overtime."

Upon reflection following Friday's game, the needle settled on defensive execution as the main culprit.

"I thought our defence was terrible," said head coach Mike Connolly. "In the first half, we didn't get any kills, which is three stops in a row. If you get seven kills – 21 stops – you have a 75 per cent chance of winning the game. We got five in the second half. We started to play better defensively, started to force harder shots. 

"I did think we missed some easy shots. We'll make those. Our execution down the stretch didn't work. I wasn't really worried about our offence, I just wasn't happy with our defence. That's not our defence. We let them have too many points, too many direct lines to the hoop and we'll make adjustments for that tomorrow."

Jaksic led the Griffins with the fourth double double of his career (now just one shy of the program record shared by Ryan May and Matthew Osunde), scoring 13 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Newcomer Filip Karanovic scored 18 points, Job Janda had 14 and Joel Seke chipped in 12.

Reigning Canada West second team all-star Keivonte Watts paced MRU with a game-high 23 points, while Daniel Owoeye had a double double with 16 points and 10 boards, Dray Walburger hit 15 points and Jean-Nelson Pigoue chipped in 11.

The fourth quarter was tense all the way through as MRU entered with six-point lead, which became four midway through, was trimmed to two with 4:08 left and stayed between 2-4 in a final minute that became awash in fouls and free-throw shots.

When Avnoor Bhullar made two from the charity stripe with 11 seconds left, the Griffins zipped down the court for one last chance, which was an Alonso attempt from the corner that missed. They ran out of time to set up more than that.

"We were supposed to trap and if we didn't trap, we were supposed to foul, and we didn't foul," said Connolly. "It ate more time off the clock."

Despite the loss, there are plenty of positives. The Griffins forced 17 turnovers, had more offensive rebounds (14-10) than MRU did and showed lots of diversity on offence.

"We have a great team," said Jaksic. "A lot of players who can score. I believe in them. 

"We've come a long way and eventually all the dominos will fall and we'll (win). We'll break through. I'm just waiting for that day." 

The Griffins are aiming for that to happen on Saturday in the rematch (3 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

"Like I said to them, I think we can regroup, we're better, come back tomorrow and bring lots of energy," said Connolly. "We're used to playing this hard, we have no problem playing this hard."