It wasn't "textbook." It wasn't even their best effort, but it was still more than enough.
In the end, the Quest men's basketball team rolled to a pair of big road victories this past weekend over Columbia Bible College (CBC) on Friday (Jan. 24) and the Kwantlen Eagles on Saturday (Jan. 25).
On Friday, the men's team was able to take down the CBC Bearcats 111-86. Quest was led by guard Jose Colorado, who poured in a season-high 36 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field. Shedrick Nelson chipped in with 20 points and five rebounds while Mohammed Dadfar was solid with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Kermodes were hot all night long from the field and ended up shooting 56.8 per cent for the game. They also dominated on the glass, winning the overall rebounding battle 63-21.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Kermodes were much more erratic. They were able to hold CBC to 40 per cent shooting from the field, including four of 27 from three-point land. But CBC's main scoring option, Hudson Naylor, torched the Kermodes for 37 points, including 17 free throw attempts while CBC as a team shot 35 free throws.
Quest followed that with a 94-64 win over Kwantlen. The Kermodes were able to hold their opponents to 31.4 per cent shooting from the field, including 10.7 per cent on three-pointers and only 23 free throw attempts.
It was a balanced scoring effort on this night as five Kermodes broke double digits. Connor Heinrichs led the way with 15 points and four rebounds while Daniel Hoffman exploded off the bench for 12 points.
The Kermode women were able to get back to their winning ways on Friday, crushing the Bearcats 85-40.
"It was extremely important to win this weekend, not just for our record but also for the morale of the team," said Quest guard Shayna Cameron. "We thrive at home so it was really hard to lose both games. This weekend helped us get our rhythm back and get us re-focused."
Cameron led the way for the Kermodes with 22 points while Cassidy Osterling chipped in 16 points. Cynthia Lau and Tessa Needham added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The women were able to completely lock down the Bearcats, who shot 25.4 per cent from the field and committed 35 turnovers.
Saturday's game proved to be a much tougher test for the women, but the Kermodes prevailed with a hard-fought 66-57 victory due to big contributions from Aimee Johnston and Cameron.
Johnston finished with 13 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Cameron added 16 points, including four of seven on three-pointers.
Both teams now travel back home to play in their newly renovated Quest gym. They will take on the Langara Falcons on Friday (Jan. 31) and Douglas Royals on Saturday (Feb. 1). The women will tip off at 6 p.m. while the men are set to go at 8 p.m. on both nights.
- With files from Jose Colorado, Quest University
