#5 “AAA” Sir Charles Tupper Tigers (8-0) vs Lord Byng Grey Ghosts (4-3)
SIR CHARLES TUPPER - The #5 “AAA” Sir Charles Tupper Tigers would put their perfect regular season record on the line at home against the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts on a rainy Wednesday night. On this night, the Tigers would need other players to step up, as speedy guard Ranell Sebastian was absent from the lineup. The Grey Ghosts were also short-handed as their active roster was only nine players.
The game started with a quick pace as both teams tried to establish their transition games, but it was the Charles Tupper Tigers who jumped out to a 21-11 lead with three minutes to play in the first quarter behind seven early points from #7 Joven Dhillon. Lord Byng knocked down three triples in the quarter to keep them close, but some nice execution landed the Tigers with back-to-back buckets on the same play from #17 Matthew Dunkerley and #3 Gaurab Acharya which made the score 26-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started with some nice ball movement by the Grey Ghosts and an offensive rebound off their first attempt gave them a new shot clock where #14 Jonny Hua capitalized with a contested lay up. #15 Dexter MacDonald would add back-to-back triples to cut the lead to single digits early in the quarter. #3 Gaurab Acharya of Tupper would stop the run with another floater after cutting through the top defenders of the zone defence. On the next play, with the shot clock winding down he fired a deep three that found the bottom of the net. #19 Seth Hastings of Lord Byng added a “3” of his own to keep them in the game. After taking a knee and "charlie horse" on a play, #3 Gaurab Acharya proved the leg was okay by knocking down another 3 pointer on the ensuing play. At the half the score was 41-31 for Tupper.
To start the second half, #19 Seth Hastings of the Grey Ghosts hit a triple and a few plays later #2 Harry Chae would beat his defender and finish at the rim while getting fouled catching the help side defender sleeping. Tupper had to wait three minutes for their first field goal of the half, which came from #5 Sebastian Lemos off of a floater on the baseline. A nice half court set freed #19 Seth Hastings inside with a smaller defender on him, allowing the Grey Ghosts to cut the lead to just four. Things slowed in the middle of the quarter, but the action picked back up on another bucket inside from Lord Byng’s #19 Seth Hastings, followed by a triple from #16 Mitchell Morgan of Charles Tupper, followed by a “3” of #15 Dexter MacDonald, and then a contested jumper by #5 Sebastian Lemos of Tupper. In the final minute of the quarter #15 Dexter MacDonald of the Grey Ghosts would get a steal that put him in for an uncontested lay-up. With the ball and a little bit more time than the shot clock, #3 Gaurab Acharya drove and scored for an “and 1” which left Lord Byng with eight seconds to get a shot attempt. #18 Alex Van Der Slaght would be fouled at the buzzer in the scramble, splitting the free throws to put the score at 54-48 entering the final frame.
#14 Jonny Hua opened with a split pair of free throws for the Grey Ghosts, and then #5 Sebastian Lemos Tupper scored another baseline floater. Grade 10, #17 Matthew Dunkerley who had been fairly quiet scoring all night, but still grabbing rebounds would grab an offensive rebound off of his own miss and finish while he was fouled. #3 Gaurab Acharya of the Tigers and #19 Seth Hastings of Lord Byng traded “3’s” on a couple of possessions then #15 Dexter MacDonald would score five straight points to keep the lead at just six. Mid-way through the quarter, Tigers guard, #3 was fouled shooting a “3” resulting in three made free throws and a double digit lead again. A nice pass from #3 Gaurab Acharya CT found #17 Matthew Dunkerley behind the zone which extended Tigers lead to 16 with just two minutes to play. #15 Dexter MacDondald would hit a “3” in the last minute but it wasn’t enough. Final score 77-63. Leading scorers were #3 Gaurab Acharya with 30 points and #15 Dexter MacDonald with a game high 31 points.
The Tigers are off to the Robert Bateman Tournament today where they face Pitt Meadows in the opening round before returning to VSSAA season play next week against Point Grey Hounds and the other undefeated King George Dragons. The Grey Ghosts will look to get back above .500 against the Templeton Titans tomorrow.
Good luck to both teams in their remaining games!
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