For the second consecutive game, the RDC Kings decided they needed a bit of drama down the stretch.
Two clutch deep jump shots from guard Tyronn King on back-to-back possessions gave the Kings the lead with under a minute to play after a stop on defence, Spencer Klassen iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The 89-83 win was the second night this weekend the Kings needed a late basket to produce a win over the Briercrest College Clippers.
RDC fell behind early but erased the deficit after allowing the Clippers to score just 15 points in the second quarter. They cruised from there until the final few minutes.
“I saw a sloppy start defensively and I thought the guys recovered. We went to man-to-man and challenged them personally to take care of defence. They accepted that challenge and they played really good defence, especially in the second quarter,” said RDC Kings head coach Darren Graham.
“In the end, they just had to grit it out against a really gritty team that was undermanned, they had some injuries and ultimately we got baskets when it counted and I was impressed with the boys, specifically Ty (King), really put us on his back the last couple minutes.”
Klassen, a fifth-year guard had a game-high 27 points, making all six of his free throws while collecting eight rebounds and three assists.
King earned the praise of his coach post-game and was player of the game with 17 points, eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists. He was also an efficient eight-of-14 from the field.
“He can score when he needs to and he has a nice inside game, nice outside game and those two (late) shots were the mid-range, floater type. He nailed them, so good on him,” added Graham.
Red Deer product Cody White had another productive game, scoring 16 points and drained four threes. Anthony Harper also chipped in 13 points off the bench for RDC. Brandon Tolentino led the way for the Clippers with 24 points.
The win helped the Kings improve to 5-3 on the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season and they will have a tough schedule to finish out the fall semester.
They will travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Rattlers on Nov. 29, then make their way to Caronport, Sask. to take on the Briercrest College Clippers Saturday night to finish off the first half of the year.