By Austin Driedger

Briercrest College men’s basketball had their second game of the weekend against the Augustana Vikings on Saturday, Oct. 27. Matt Myers started the quarter with a hot hand, hitting four three point shots in a row, providing a score of twelve points in under four minutes. With just over a minute left in play, James Wohlgeshaffen got a quick steal and completed the break away with a powerful slam dunk. Briercrest took control of the first quarter finishing with a lead of 31-15.
Second quarter followed suit with good outside shooting and tough play down low from Briercrest. Augustana replied with fast breaks and tough shots down low to make a slight comeback. The score at the end of the half was 54-45 for Briercrest. Noteable play in the first half to Wohlgeshaffen with 15 points, and Myers with 14.
Matt Myers led the second half strong, adding two more three point shots, following with a steal that led to a two-handed dunk shortly after. Rookie Lucas Mannes played well scoring nine points in the quarter alone alongside great passing from point guard Caleb Klassen. Third quarter finished with the score being 86-65 in favour of Briercrest.

The fourth quarter saw an increase in fouls as the competitiveness of the game continued to rise. Gradyn Childerhose did not slow down the high pace game, scoring a hard earned eight points. Good efforts were put in by the bench players to finish off strong for the team. Good play by Mannes scoring 23 points, Childerhose with 19 points, and James Wohlgeschaffen with 17 points and 12 rebounds at the end of regulation. Briercrest finished the game with a 103-86 victory.

"Solid effort tonight to earn our second win of the season," said Coach Rod Adrian. "As a team we shot an amazing 44% from the three point line.  (They shot 26%)  Big numbers for Matt Myers, another double-double for James Wohlgeschaffen. Freshman Lucas Mannes shot great (73% FG, 75% 3pt, 80% FT) and finished with 23 pts. Our rock in the middle [Childerhose] once again dominated the paint with 19 pts, 9 reb (7 O Reb).  Not showing up on the stat sheet is the pressure that Caleb Klassen, and Kenny Boese were able to put on the other team's guards and as a team we had 18 steals."

Player of the game for Augustana Vikings was David Shantz with 28 points, ten rebounds and five steals. Player of the game for Briercrest was Matt Myers with 25 points (including 7 for 13 from behind the 3-point line), five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

Next Weekend Briercrest travels to Grande Prairie Regional College (Fri), and The King’s University College (Sat). Both games are at 8:00 pm.