issue 12// vol 48 The Royals basketball team falls short against the Capilano Blues Oe Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels sports // no. 5 » The team continues to try and find its rhythm Mo Hussain Contributor lhe Douglas Royals men’s basketball team are still looking to find their way as they lost back-to-back games against the Capilano Blues last weekend. The team fell short 107-77 in the first game, and 106-82 the following night. In the first game, the Blues made their mark from the beginning. The team led the game 22-u1 at the end of the first quarter and ended up leading the game 57-30 at halftime. Blues guard Harry Liu scored 15 of his total 19 points in the first half. The Royals did manage to do well in the third quarter, outscoring the Blues 32-28. Royals guard Jarett Jacobs scored 13 of his team-leading 23 points in that same third quarter. However, the Blues still led 85-62 heading into the fourth, which showed to be too much for the Royals to come back from. Blues guard Brenden Bailey scored eight of his total 18 points in the fourth quarter, to ice the first game for Capilano. The Blues also got off to a good start in the second game as they led by nine points at the end of the first quarter and led at halftime 52-37. Royals forward Ben Rabel put up close to a third of his team’s first- half points with 12. He finished the game as the Royals leading scorer that night with 20 points. As with the first game, the Blues lead in the first half once again proved too much for the Royals to answer. The Blues outscored the Royals 53-37 the rest of the game to secure the win. One notable element missing throughout those games was a lack of women’s matchups. The reason for that was that both teams decided to postpone the games to a later date. The Royals were also scheduled to play against the Camosun Chargers on November 19th and November 20th. However, those games were postponed due to the unprecedented flooding and subsequent road closures in the province. As for where the men and women are in the standings: * The men are last in the PACWEST standings with zero points * The women are currently third in PACWEST with four points The next time both the men’s and women’s teams will touch the floor will be on January 7th when they match up against Vancouver Island University. Royals split thnlling matchups against the Mariners » These games certainly didn’t lack any action Mo Hussain Contributor oth the Douglas Royals women’s and men’s volleyball teams split their pair of matchups against the Vancouver Island University Mariners this past weekend. The women lost the first game three-one but managed to pull off a three-set come back the following day to win three-two. The men decisively won the first game three-zero but fell short three-one the following game. For the women, the first game got off to a good start as they scored three straight points to take the first set 25- 20. However, the Mariners managed to bounce back. A seven-two run in the middle of the second set helped them secure a 25-28 set win to tie the game at one. Both teams were then neck and neck through the third set until the Mariners went on another significant run. The team outscored the Royals ten- four at the second half of the third set to once again take it 25-18, leading the game two-one. The Royals then battled to keep the fourth set close, tying the Mariners 23-23. However, a tip-in from Mariners’ setter Linnea Brickwood and a cross- court hit from Mariners’ Outside Hitter Yevgeniya Jane’ Lytvynenko would secure the Mariners a 25-23 set win to close off the game. The second game began to look like it was going to bea repeat of the first game. The Mariners went on back-to-back mid-set runs to take the first two sets 25-18. However, the Royals found a way to completely turn the tables around. The team was only up 22-21 in the third set before outscoring the Mariners three-one, to take the set 25-22. Royals outside-hitter Lauren Attieh scored a cross-court point to put the Royals on the scoreboard. The Royals carried that momentum into the fourth set where they won by a wider margin at 25-19. The team then completed the comeback in the fifth, as they bounced back from a seven-ten deficit to win the set 15-13. The men ended up with a similar result to the women after playing both games against the Mariners but in different ways. In the first game, the team held the lead throughout the entire first set, ultimately leading them to take it 25-21. The second set saw a somewhat similar result as the Royals trailed nine-eight; they managed to take that lead and keep it until the end of the set. Royals’ veteran Ben Shand scored a cross-court hit to give the Royals the set 25-23, now leading the game two-zero. The Royals would then ice the game in the third set as middle blocker Rajan Gill blocked a Mariners hit, leading to the Royals winning the set 26-24 and winning the game three-zero Wie ee ee Ook However, that momentum did not translate into the second game. The Royals led in the first set 13-9, but the Mariners managed to climb back and take that set 25-23. An off-the-block hit by Mariners left-side Jeff Webb secured the Mariners a one-zero lead. The Royals almost managed to tie the game in the second set as they led 24-22 at one point. However, the Mariners scored four straight points to take it 26-24 and take a two-zero lead. The Mariners then secured the victory in a very close third set 25-23. Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels As for where the women and men are in the standings: * The women are first in the PACWEST standings with eight points * The men are currently second in PACWEST with six points The men and women will play Columbia Bible College and Camosun College before the end of November to cap off the winter portion of their season.