Trojans fall to sharp-shooting Kodiaks

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., (Nov. 28, 2019) - Round 1 goes to the Kodiaks.

In the first of three meetings of the two top teams in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) South Division, the SAIT Trojans men's basketball team was beaten 118-95 by the host Lethbridge College Kodiaks in a rare Thursday night game.

"We played a good team in their gym, and they played fantastic," said Trojans head coach Marty Birky of the Kodiaks. "We dug a hole early, but I thought we did a great job of getting back into it later on."

SAIT falls to 7-2 on the season. Lethbridge improves to 9-0.

The first quarter told the story of the game, as Lethbridge seemingly hit every shot they took. By the end of the first 10 minutes of play, Lethbridge was shooting an impressive 59 per cent from the field, while SAIT recorded a shooting percentage half of that - 29 per cent.

SAIT made a run in the second half to cut the lead to seven early in the fourth, but got into foul trouble in the process, which allowed the Kodiaks to pull away in the final five minutes of play.

"Key guys got in foul trouble, but even if they didn't, we have to play much better defence than that," Birky said. "One hundred and eighteen points against is a record for me."

Calvin Chambers (4th year, Memphis, Tenn., Business Administration) led the Trojans with 20 points, while teammate Charlie Conner (3rd year, Lacey, Wash., Business Administration) added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Orin Porter Jr. led the Kodiaks with a game-high 32 points.

Round 2 of their three-round battle this season goes Friday night at SAIT at 8pm.