Denny McDonald’s three-point play — a basket and the foul —— helped the Trinity Western men’s basketball team upset the fifth-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday (Nov. 23) in Saskatoon.
The Spartans, who dropped a 87-75 decision to the fourth-ranked Alberta Golden Bears the night before in Edmonton, erased a 16-point halftime deficit to hand the Huskies (7-1) their first loss of the season, 75-73. Trinity Western improved to 4-4.
With his team down by a point, McDonald drove to the basket and finished off the glass, drawing a foul in the process with five seconds to play.
He sank the free throw and the Huskies long-range attempt at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim.
“Finding a way to win was pretty impressive after being down by so much,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen.
“We had a great team effort from Justin (Bakuteka). He was a stable part of our offence and defence.
“(And) Robert (Rodriguez) was a force and he willed the team to win.
“I’m really proud of the guys tonight.”
Both players had 15 points.
The Huskies were up 21-16 after one quarter and 44-28 at the half.
The Spartans but the lead to 11 after three quarters and then outscored Saskatchewan 28-15 in the fourth.
McDonald led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points while Jesse Jeffers and Anthony Ottley had 10 apiece.
The Spartans forced 16 turnovers which resulted in 24 points.
The Huskies were led by Dadrian Collins’ 22 points, which included five three-pointers.
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The Spartans close out the first half of the Canada West regular season with a pair of home games at the Langley Events Centre on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30.
The opponent in both games will be the Victoria Vikes (8-0) who are ranked third in the country.
Game times are 8 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
