Basketball teams from Kwantlen Polytechnic University are off to a perfect start to PACWEST play.
The Kwantlen Eagles women’s team defeated the Columbia Bible College (CBC) Bearcats 77-47 Friday night in Abbotsford, the first game of the season for both teams.
The men were also at CBC the same night, and edged the Bearcats 70-68.
Second-year guard and team captain Jeannine Yngresso paced the Eagles in the women’s game. The graduate of Holy Cross high school in Surrey finished the game with 19 points and eight steals.
Cassandra Micona added 18 points, and she and Yngresso both went five-of-nine in three-point territory.
Jessica Villadiego, another Holy Cross graduate, scored 13 points and had nine steals. The leading rebounder for Kwantlen was Laura Geissert with nine.
“I thought that we worked hard but not always smart,” said Eagles head coach Dan Nayebzadeh. “We need to take care of the ball a lot better than we have lately and we have to do a better job of finishing our shots.”
A last-second bucket executed by a pair of Surrey residents gave the Eagles the victory in the men’s game.
Aaron Ram’s three-point attempt failed to drop, but Gurpal Mann put back the rebound at the buzzer for the winning points.
Kwantlen dominated statistically, with four players scoring double digits and the Eagles dominating the boards with 81 rebounds to CBC’s 55.
Ali Bosir, a fourth-year forward form Princess Margaret Secondary, had the double double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Ram, a guard from North Delta’s Seaquam Secondary, had his first double double at the PACWEST level with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“Games like this are the reason why you must play tough and compete on the defensive end,” said men’s head coach Stefon Wilson. “We did not shoot the ball well from the field, but our defense and rebounding kept us in the game.”
Both Kwantlen teams will play twice next weekend, playing in North Vancouver Friday against the Capilano Blues then tipping-off Saturday night against the Quest Kermodes in Squamish.