Coyotes will be let loose in the gymnasium of Okanagan College Penticton this weekend.
The Okanagan College Coyotes men’s basketball team is hosting Capilano University, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m., then Douglas College Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
“We are excited to go there. It will be good to showcase our team, that’s really the mission of this year,” said Coyotes coach Dino Gini, adding that staff at the Penticton campus would like to see them play more games here. Coyotes photo
The Coyotes features players from throughout B.C., including Jesse Vissia (No. 3) from Keremeos, a graduate of Similkameen Secondary, and Osoyoos’ Gurlal Dhaliwal (No.9), a graduate of Osoyoos Secondary. Dhaliwal won’t play as he hasn’t played in any games because of an injury.
When the program was announced last December, it was reported the Coyotes men’s and women’s teams would play a strong exhibition schedule the first year with the goal of gaining entrance in the PAC-WEST athletic conference. That will happen next season according to Gini.
The most recent action for the mens team was traveling to Red Deer Oct. 6 to 8 for the Red Deer College tournament, winning with a 3-0 record. In one of their matches, the Red Deer Advocate reported the Coyotes defeated Red Deer College Kings 80-78. Kings coach Clayton Pottinger said this about the Coyotes.
“Okanagan is a veteran team with some very complete players so it was a good matchup,” said Pottinger.
Davide Ciancio won the game for the Coyotes scoring on a fast break with 1.3 seconds left.
“We’re playing really well together. They are very talented,” said Gini. “Have very high IQ. A bit banged up from the weekend.”
In nine games, the Coyotes have a 5-4 record in exhibition play. The Coyotes play their home games out of Immaculata High.
