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College sports: UBCO Men’s basketball pulls off upset, OC women make history

UBCO basketball advances, volleyball on the brink of elimination
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(Photo - Lethbridge Sports)

The UBCO men’s basketball team pulled off a huge upset Thursday night, while others are fighting for their season. Here’s your Kelowna post-secondary sports update:

UBCO Heat

In the start of the men’s basketball Canada West playoffs, the tenth-seed Manitoba Bisons are going home early after the 17th-seed UBCO Heat upset them 83-73.

Up by four points at halftime, the third quarter is where the Heat ran away with it, as they held Manitoba to just nine points in the frame.

Kevin Hamlet collected a double-double with 17 points and eleven rebounds. He also had six assists and two blocks. Gus Goerzen added 17 points of his own while Hafith Moallin had 14.

With the win, the Heat advance to the second round and take on the host of the tournament, the eighth-seed Lethbridge Pronghorns. Tip-off is tonight (Friday, March 4) at 7 p.m. Pacific time.

On the women’s side, the Heat open up the Canada West playoffs tonight as they take on the MacEwen Griffins in the first round.

The Heat won both games between these two teams this season back in October (87-82 and 67-48). UBCO, the 13th-seed, finished the season with a 7-11 record while MaeEwen, the 14th-seed, finished with a 4-12.

Tip-off is at 12 p.m. Pacific time at the University of Calgary.

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Both the men’s and women’s Heat volleyball teams are fighting for their seasons, as they both lost their opening round matchups of the Canada West playoffs.

The ninth-seed men’s team fought back for a fifth set after losing the first two, but ultimately fell to the seventh-seed Calgary Dinos on Thursday night.

Max Heppell lead the team with 22.5 points in the loss.

UBCO will take on the tournament host and fourth-seed Winnipeg Wesman on Friday afternoon. Unless the team gets some help from other teams in the playoffs, the game is a must-win to keep their season alive. Winnipeg won their opening match against Manitoba.

Game time is at 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Like the men’s team, the women’s team found themselves down 2-0, but battled back to fall in the fifth and final set to the fifth-seed Mount Royals Cougars.

The women also face a must-win game on Friday afternoon in hopes to keep their season alive. They take on the sixth-seed Saskatchewan Huskies, who won their opening game against the Manitoba Bisons.

Game time is set for 4 p.m. Pacific time at Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon.

All UBCO games are available to watch live on Canadawest.tv.

Okanagan College Coyotes

It was a historic night for the Okanagan College women’s basketball team on Thursday night as they recorded their first-ever playoff win. They defeated the Langara Falcons 79-64 in the Pacwest basketball championships.

The game was tied 36-36 at halftime, but the Coyotes were able to pull away in the second half led by Devon Felt and Soleil Wilding, who had 15 points and 14 respectively.

The third-seed Coyotes will take on the second-seed Capilano Blues in the semi-finals on Friday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. at Columbia Place.

The winner will take on the winner of Douglas College and Vancouver Island University in the finals.

The men’s season came to an end on Thursday after losing their opening game of the Pacwest championships 109-77 against the third-seed Capliano Blues.

READ MORE: Two vehicles collide in West Kelowna Thursday night

READ MORE: Premier Horgan speaks on rising violence in B.C. after UBCO security guard murdered


@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com

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Jordy Cunningham

About the Author: Jordy Cunningham

Hailing from Ladner, B.C., I have been passionate about sports, especially baseball, since I was young. In 2018, I graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree
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