By DANNY RODE
Special to the Advocate
Trojans 94 Kings 83
MEDICINE HAT – The RDC Kings have one of the best starting lineups in the Alberta Colleges Men’s Basketball League.
But if anything has hurt them this season it’s a lack of experience on the bench.
The Kings have several promising rookies who are still growing. As a result head coach Clayton Pottinger has basically went seven or eight deep against the elite teams this season.
That may have played a factor in their 94-83 loss to the SAIT Trojans in the ACAC championship semifinal Friday.
“We went seven or eight deep at least the second half (of the season) and that could have contributed to our second half play (of the game),” said Pottinger.
The Kings led by as many as 16 in the first half before the Trojans narrowed the gap to 47-39 at the break. The Trojans outscored the Kings 23-18 in the third quarter and 32-18 in the fourth.
“It’s the same thing that’s hurt us several times this season in that we have a big lead and let it get away in the second half,” said Pottinger. “Not to take anything away from SAIT. They have a good team and found a second gear while we didn’t step up.”
The Kings also ran into foul trouble, losing Shayne Stumpf with five fouls and Anthony Robbs was forced to sit out long periods of time with three.
“That plus our defence let up a bit and they also shot the lights out in that fourth quarter. They shot 86 per cent (nine-for-11) from the line. And their defence held us under 30 per cent from the field.”
Ian Tevis led the Kings with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Spencer Klassen had 17 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Stumpf added 15 points and nine boards and Matt Matear had seven points, nine rebounds and five helpers.
John Smith had 30 points for SAIT.
The Kings will face ——- in the bronze medal game today at 5 p.m.
Pottinger isn’t sure how his team will approach the game.
“They’re down right now, but hopefully they’re ready to play. It was the same situation as last year where we lost a tough semifinal game to NAIT and then lost the bronze.”
Meanwhile the NAIT Ooks clash with the Lakeland Rustlers in the fifth-place game while the Trojans meet the Lethbridge Kodiaks in the final.
The Kodiaks upset the host Rattlers 78-66.
On the women’s side in Lethbridge the host Kodiaks will clash with St. Mary’s in the final.
St. Mary’s came from behind top down Medicine Hat 63-51 and Lethbridge defeated SAIT 66-50.
NAIT and Concordia meet in the fifth-place game.
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter who can be reached at drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com. His work can also be seen at Danny’s blog at rdcathletics.ca