Lost the Falcon but beat the Quest

> Men’s basketball split games on the road

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

t’s been an exciting start to the

PACWEST regular season of basketball
for the Royals. Brilliant individual efforts
and defensive mentality had led to the
team coming into the final week of
the first split of basketball with a .500
record at 2-2. However, their wins were
shaky, and could have gone either way.
Nonetheless, as the saying goes, a win is
a win, and it is two points at the end of
the season, regardless of how it came to
be.

But before the team even thinks
about taking a bit of a break, they had
a couple of challenges in front of them
to overcome. The first team the Royals
played was the undefeated Langara
Falcons. The two teams matched up
quite evenly to start the game, but the
Royals were missing quite the key player
on the court. Grant Campbell, the Royals
captain and point guard, was sidelined
with an undisclosed injury. And in the
second quarter, the team really missed
his presence. The Falcons went on to
score 19 points in the second quarter,
and they limited the Royals to 13 points.
Going into half the Royals trailed, 40-31.
The second half was still close, but

at this point, Langara was pulling away
with the game. Grabbing another seven

 
 

point gap in the third, the Falcons put
some distance in between them and the
Royals before really putting them away.
The fourth quarter was yet another
typical one for the Royals, where they got
outworked and just had no chance. The
Falcons pushed away with their cushy
lead and never looked back, winning the
game, 88-60.

However, there were a couple of
bright points one could take from the
game. Malcolm Mensah had a huge game
for the team, despite the result, picking
up the team’s first double-double on the
season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Lambert Pajayon also stood out this

Photograph by Davie Wong

game, picking up 18 points on the night.

Next in line before the semester
break was the even-keeled Quest
Kermodes. The Kermodes were coming
off a huge win against one of PACWEST’s
best in the Capilano Blues. The Royals
really needed to step it up to compete,
and they delivered. Unsurprisingly,
it was on the back of their leaders,
Malcolm Mensah and Grant Campbell.
Campbell came off the bench, likely due
to him nursing an injury, but his impact
on the game couldn’t have been any
bigger.

The Royals got off to the quick start
that has been a strength for them this

Y'all just got Beauchamp'‘d

> Women’s basketball have an exciting finish to the semester

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

t was a wild week for women’s

basketball. Their last week of games this
semester gave the viewers some basketball
gems. Let’s start with Friday’s game
against the Langara Falcons.

The Royals definitely started on the
flat foot. Nothing went right for them in
the first quarter, as the Falcons shot to
an early lead, scoring 15 while limiting
the Royals to just 5 points. The Royals
managed to stabilize in the second
quarter, scoring 12 while allowing u, but
it wasn’t near enough to reduce to that
Langara lead.

Coming out in the third, the Royals
really made an effort to come back, but
were pretty much held down by the
Falcons’ defence, and the 2 fizzled out on
each other, scoring 11 points a side. Down
by g, the Royals needed an incredible
effort to grab a win.

And I'd pay a thousand dollars
to know what Steve Beauchamp did
during the team talk at the third quarter
intermission, because he sparked a fire
within his team. The women came back in
a miraculous fashion, tearing the Falcon
defense apart and just really making them
look silly. An incisive 22-point quarter, as
well as keeping the Falcons to 7 points in
the last 10 minutes, ensured the team’s
victory, 50-44.

The difference maker that game really
had to be Rachel Beauchamp. Fourteen
rebounds and 14 points gave her yet
another double-double on the year.

With that game in the books, and
yet another win under their belts, the
women took their basketball stylings to a
little university out in the valley to face off
against the Quest Kermodes. They picked
up where they left off against the Falcons,
tearing into the Kermodes in the first
quarter for 21 points. But the Kermodes
are a good team, and they knew how to
answer the Royals’ offence with a little
offense of their own. Nineteen points in
the second to be exact, with only 13 in
reply from the Royals.

It was a tight game going into the
half, with the score at 34-33, Royals
leading. The Douglas squad managed to
extend their lead by a single in the third
quarter. And while the solitary point
seemed rather a damp reward for a hard
quarter, the fourth would prove that every
point does matter. In a wild shootout,
the Kermodes beat out the Royals in the
fourth quarter by one point, scoring 24
to their 23. But because they held a two-
point lead from their one point differential
in the third quarter, the Royals won out
the game, 70-69. It was a thriller for all
that watched, but undoubtedly shaved a
few years off of Steve Beauchamp’s heart.

Speaking of Beauchamp, a different
Beauchamp had a very big game for her
team. Rachel Beauchamp put in the
best game of her season, and maybe her
career so far, scoring 28 huge points for
her team, and picking up 10 rebounds for
yet another double-double. That takes
her total up to five double-doubles in
six games. It might be a little early to be
calling for a Player of the Year award, but

 

it would take a cataclysmic level event to
not award her an All-Star at this point. If
I was PACWEST or CCAA, I'd just give her
the treble already, that’s how massive she
is for her team.

The win gives the team a league
record of 5-1, which is good enough for

season. A 22-point first quarter and a
26-point second quarter gave them a
heavy lead going into the second half of
the game. From there on, it was really
the shutdown game from the Royals.
The team played extensive defensive
basketball, matching Quest on every
level. They never gave up ground to the
Kermodes, but they never really gained
ground on them either.

The game kind of fizzled out to an
even draw in the second half, where
the Royals huge early game head game
them the win. They weren't outworked
in the second half, like they were against
CBC, but they also didn’t outwork the
Kermodes. But at the end of the day, a
win is a win, and the Royals did exactly
that, clinching a confident victory with
a final score of 79-60. They beat out the
Kermodes to bring their record to par,
finishing the first semester an even .500
at 3-3.

Grant Campbell had a massive game
back for the team, finishing the night
with 22 points in a monstrous 32 minutes
played. Malcolm Mensah finished with 18
points, and Lambert Pajayon continued
his hot hands, putting away 19 points.
There is some concern that the break
may cool the team’s streaking scorers,
but rest assured, the break will be
beneficial for the team as they really nail
down their play style before the second
half of the season in January.

Image via douglascollegeroyals.ca

second place in the PACWEST going into
the winter break. The rest will be nice
for the Royals squad, but the fear that
taking their foot off the gas pedal now
may negatively affect them in the future.
Either way, no one can deny the Royals’
dominant form as of late.