Lakeland Ices MacEwan's Hot Flashes

A weak first quarter was all Lakeland College needed to split a weekend series with the Griffins. The Griffins struggled to reach double digits, and failed to do so until the second quarter; they've been outscored in the first by 170-146 by their opponents, all season. To have continued success they must get out to quicker starts in the coming weeks of the season.

Although the first didn't lack it's action, which included a dust up courtesy of catalyst, Janis Assers. He and Lakeland top scorer Kadeem Willis went nose-to-nose and briefly exchanged words before both were separated by teammates.

Unfortunately for the Griffins, the act of passion didn't translate into points and by the end of the first half they trailed 44-26. Despite a solid showing in the second half MacEwan, a lack luster first half left no foundation to build on.

Another glaring problem in MacEwan's offense was their rally-killing turnovers.  The Griffins would rack up 23 turnovers at the final buzzer, to Lakeland's 17.

Photo by Aleah Elliott

Though a bright spot of this game had to be the consistent play of Saeid Deria, who played with a vengeance, despite what the scoreboard said. He contributed a pair of steals and four key boards, Coach Magdanz supported the idea of using him more at the 4. That would require a little more muscle on his 6'4 frame, although his high ceiling will be a point of interest for the young forward throughout the season.

Player of the game, Denzel Williamson-James would shoot 9-17 (.529) for both games against Lakeland College. He's playing like the Griffs go-to scorer averaging a team-leading 12.9 points per game.

Another standout was guard Tyler Wise, who broke out with 26 points in the away half of the weekend. Interestingly enough, Wise has grown into quite the shooter. He has a sparkling .478 shooting percentage when he jacks up more than ten shots a game; in his 26-point performance he's put up a whopping 19 shots. It's intriguing how his shooting prowess becomes instrumental in the Griffins offense.