Loss to VIU puts Eagle's season record at 1-14

By Josh Saggau

In the first game of their weekend set with the VIU Mariners, the Kwantlen Eagles men’s basketball team fell 95-80.

The Eagles were slow out of the gate and scored just 10 points in the opening quarter. The Mariners put up 25.

VIU scored another 26 in the second quarter to expand their lead to 22.

The Mariners just had too much speed for the Eagles to match. The Eagles team has great size but have trouble handling the speed game some teams are able to play. With a 22 point lead at half time the Mariners easily cruised to the victory.

Leading the way for VIU was 6’4 Andrew Kaban, who scored a game-high 20 points against the overwhelmed Kwantlen defence. Four players hit double digits in scoring for the Mariners.

Kwantlen also had four players with double digits in scoring, led by Mark Dabrowski with 17. Unfortunately, many of Dabrowski’s points came in the final two quarters with the Eagles already down big and no chance of overcoming the deficit.

Kwantlen’s biggest problem on offence were turnovers. The team committed 23 turnovers, leading to 30 points for the Mariners offence. VIU had only 13 in comparison.

If not for sloppy play in the first half, the Eagles could have been in the game at the end. They outscored the Mariners 51-44 in the second half. The Eagles have consistently played only two good quarters per game for most of the season and it has led to their ugly 1-14 record.

The Eagles will have a chance for redemption tomorrow night as the teams meet for the second game of the weekend series.