A playoff berth is slipping away from the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Eagles men’s basketball team.
The Eagles lost a pair of PACWEST (Pacific Western Athletic Conference) contests last weekend, extending their losing streak to eight games while dropping three games back of the final playoff position.
With just five games remaining in their regular season, KPU is 2-14 (won-lost) on the season.
Kwantlen was in North Vancouver last Thursday to play the Capilano Blues looking for a win to move to within a game of a postseason position. But it was the home side looking more determined to get the win, jumping out to a 25-9 lead just 10 minutes into the game.
The Blues led for the entire contest, and led 67-39 at three-quarter time.
Point guard Brendan Bailey, ranked second among PACWEST scorers, had a game-high 28 points for the Eagles. Matt Cooley was the only other Kwantlen player scoring in double digits, netting 14 points to go with six rebounds. Cooley, a graduate of Delview Secondary in North Delta, has a league-best 8.87 rebounds per game.
With just seven players in the lineup Saturday in Squamish, the Eagles dropped a 63-49 decision to the Quest Kermodes.
Cooley played all 40 minutes, scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. Trevor Schulz contributed 11 points to the Eagles total.
“Saturday was how I want my guys to play in the future,” said Eagles head coach Vladimir Nikic. “We dominated the boards and handled their penetration well, my guys did a great job both ends of the floor and kept the score down.”
KPU will visit the 1-15 Columbia Bible College Bearcats tomorrow (Friday) in Abbotsford.
