Kings fall at Final Four
Lightning 81 Kings 80
EDMONTON — One may be the loneliest number, but a one-point loss is definitely the most bitter.
The RDC Kings basketball team that had so much hope going into the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Final Four on Friday crashed to Earth following the most narrow of losses, 81-80, to the host Concordia Lightning.
“A one-point loss is probably a little harder than anything else,” said Kings coach Craig Behan. “The guys played hard, I was pretty proud of them. And then some outside factors kind of . . .”
The Kings were frustrated all evening by the officials, with Behan saying the Lightning were hanging off of them all night, and burying their shoulders into them all game in the low post.
“I thought we got homered a little bit tonight with the officiating,“ said Behan, noting two of the refs were from Edmonton and one from Calgary. “You’re trying to adjust to the officiating as you go, not adjust to the opponent. That’s what really kind of hurts. It’s not the way it should be and that’s one of the reasons why I’m considering not coaching.”
The Kings were led by Adam Jones, with 22 points and five rebounds, Adam Shaw with 14 points, Billy McNutt with 15 points and 18 boards, and Randy Davis added 18 points and three boards.
The Kings were poised to make a run at the national championships but instead will have to settle for the ACAC bronze medal game with Lethbridge today at 6 p.m. Mount Royal College beat Lethbridge 72-69 in the other semifinal and will play Concordia for gold today at 8 p.m.
“I feel for some of the guys,” said Behan. “This was their last game and they could control the outcome to a point, and it was just bad that way. We fought hard, we had a good crowd and had a lot of support.”
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