The PACWEST (Pacific Western Athletic Conference) basketball season at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is off to a perfect start.
The Kwantlen Eagles won both the men’s and women’s games against the Columbia Bible College (CBC) Bearcats last Friday night at KPU’s Surrey campus. The men won 100-89 while the women romped to a 76-45 triumph.
Third-year guard Aaron Ram had a huge game in the men’s contest, scoring 38 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Nii-Nortey Engmann of Surrey with 18 points, Devonte Pierce with 15 and Panorama Ridge Secondary graduate Obi Udevi with 10 also scored in double digits, while fifth-year forward and Princess Margaret Secondeary graduate Ali Bosir had 15 rebounds.
The Eagles had the lead from the start, and led 29-19, 50-34 and 77-62 at the quarter breaks.
It was a similar story in the women’s game, as the Eagles led 16-10 after one quarter and 36-27 at half time. Kwantlen blitzed CBC in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 25-8 to extend their lead to 26 points.
Shilpa Khanna a first-year player and Fleetwood Park Secondary graduate, hit five shots from behind the three-point line and finished the game with 23 points. Amber-Lee Kavanagh added 20 and Christina Brown scored 14. Samantha McPhail was the top rebounder with 10, one more than Surrey’s Chantal Colby.
Both Eagles teams are on Vancouver Island on the weekend, tipping off against the Camosun Chargers in Victoria tomorrow (Friday) and the Vancouver Island University Mariners Saturday afternoon in Nanaimo.