CIAU Finals

G a m e C o m m e n t a r y

Also see the official game report for this game.

By: Dale Stevens

In the final game of the opening round of the 2000 CIAU Men's Final 8 in Halifax, the Lethbridge Pronghorns, a Wild Card entry from Canada West, and the second seed, faced the Concordia Stingers, the QSSF champs, seeded 6th. Lethbridge advanced to Saturday's second Championship Semi-Final, by virtue of a 90-77 win.

It was all Horns early on, as they opened up a 10-1 advantage. Concordia fought back to tie the game 14-14, before Lethbridge once again took the lead. The rest of the first half was sloppy, and the Horns went into the locker room with a 34-32 lead.

Spencer Holt paced the Canada West champs with 8 first-half points, while John Tschitter added 8 rebounds. Moser Award Winner Danny Balderson was held to only 5 points. Eric Zulu scored 16 points for the Stingers, while Real Kitieu grabbed 10 boards. There were a combined 59 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, thanks in part to the poor team shooting (34.1% for Lethbridge, and 31% for Concordia).

The second half started out exactly as the first, with the Horns going on a 10-1 run, to take a 44-33 lead. Concordia responded with a couple of 3's, but this time, the Pronghorns answered back, and maintained a double digit lead, at 63-48 with 11:13 remaining in the game. Lethbridge looked more like the typical Canada West team in the second half, scoring 29 points in the first 10 minutes.

However, the Stingers would not die, and went on a 12-2 run in the following 3 minutes, to cut the Lethbridge lead to 65-60, with 8:20 on the clock. But the Horns regained their shooting touch, and restored a double digit advantage going down the stretch. Concordia was unable to mount a comeback, and the Horns went on to the win.

Spencer Holt finished with 19 points to face 4 Pronghorns in double figures. Balderson finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Wilde scored 12. John Tschitter added 10 points and 12 boards.

Eric Zulu led all scorers with 26 points. Wayne Alexander added 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Real Kitieu had 14 points and 15 boards.

The teams combined for 114 total rebounds, 58 by Concordia.

With the win, Lethbridge advances to face St. Francis Xavier in tomorrow's second semi-final. Concordia will tip off with McMaster in the consolation round.

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