The Langara Falcons lost just one game in the 2013-14 basketball season and it happened to be at Quest University's gym, known as the Kermode Kave.
And while the Kave might have felt like a sour place for Langara when they lost in 麻豆社国产in November, it might be the sweetest court for them now after they won the CCAA National Championship in 麻豆社国产on Saturday (March 15).
The Falcons trailed by six to the Red Deer College Kings after three quarters of the gold medal game on Saturday but stormed back in the final quarter to win 88-86. The final minute saw Kings guard Lloyd Strickland hit four three point shots to narrow the gap but tournament MVP Brody Greig of the Falcons calmly made all his free throws to help secure the win.
Falcons coach Paul Eberhardt said he used his team's loss in the CCAA semi-finals last year to help wake Langara up heading into the fourth.
I reminded them of last year and how we felt when we lost, he said. I told them there was 10 minutes to go and they had better come off that floor pretty much ready to die and they did. They responded big time and put together an amazing fourth quarter led by Brody.
The Falcons came out of the gates hot but started missing shots and turning the ball over in the second and third quarters, which gave the Kings a lead.
In the second quarter we started turning the ball over a lot which is very uncharacteristic of us, Eberhardt said. And in the third we couldn't get anything going offensively and our shots weren't hitting. We switched up our defense in the fourth and went to a 1-3-1 defense that we haven't used much but it worked well for us and turned the tempo of the game around.
Greig led the Falcons with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds and said the team knew what it had to do in the fourth.
We realized that it was just 10 minutes and we knew we had to put it together, he said. Coach switched up our defense and that seemed to work and we knew we had a good chance to win if we kept the game close.
Eberhardt and Greig both agreed the 80-77 loss to Quest on Nov. 9 was a good step for the championship team.
We were riding a high from the year before, Greig said. Maybe some guys thought we could just play like we did last year but that was great for our team and we realized we had to work harder after that loss.
I think you can always learn more from your losses than wins, Eberhardt said. We came up here a little overconfident and got taught a lesson. It helped us to understand that it doesn't matter who you play you have to play hard. That loss was an important building block for us.
Eberhardt and Greig also praised Quest and the community of 麻豆社国产for the terrific job they did hosting the event.
A lot of people were worried when it came to Quest about if they could pull it off and they proved everyone wrong, Eberhardt said. They ran an amazing tournament and the atmosphere in the gym is unbelievable.
The Kings were awarded the silver medal at the event, with the Sheridan Bruins winning the bronze. The host Quest Kermodes placed fifth after losing 96-76 to the Vanier Cheetahs on Saturday morning.
Over in Montreal, the Quest Kermodes women's team lost 82-78 in overtime to the Champlain Cavaliers on Saturday to finish eighth at the CCAA women's basketball tournament.
For more details on that game and more coverage from the tournament, check the print edition of The Chief.
