The Huskies booked their ticket to the OCAA Provincial finals as well as the CCAA National basketball championship with a 79-76 victory over Redeemer College in the semi-finals on Saturday night.
It's the first time the Huskies are back in the OCAA Provincial final since 2017.
Notable Stats: Third-year guard Caldre Campbell was the perfect spark plug off the bench for the Huskies posting a team-high 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Derrick Taylor was a beast registering 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Christian Tabiri also recorded a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds in the victory.
How It Happened: The Huskies were not very efficient offensively out of the gates. They only shot 38.1% compared to the Royals 69.2%, which equaled to them trailing 25-19 after the opening quarter.
George Brown got a spark from Naseem Barry as he recorded seven points in the second quarter. Thanks to that, and 11 offensive rebounds the Huskies cut the deficit to 42-40 heading into halftime.
Similar to the quarter-finals the Huskies defence locked it down in the third quarter. They held the Lions to shot 17.3% from the floor to take a 60-54 lead into the final quarter.
The final frame was a back-and-forth affair, but the Huskies found themselves down 76-73 late in the fourth. Campbell came up big with three of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to even the score at 76 with 1:54 minutes to go. George Brown's defence held Redeemer scoreless the rest of the way while Robert Ocampo made a layup to seal the deal.
Head coach Jason Dawkins believes this experience at the Provincial level and soon to be National level will only benefit the program.
"The guys bought into this season and what we wanted to do. They are still learning about me, and I'm still learning about them. What their expectations are, what their goals are, and what I want from them. Once we set the bar it's set, it never goes backwards and they know that. They are meeting the bar day in and day out. They put in the hard work, which will benefit our program moving forward."
Up Next: The Huskies will battle Humber College in the Provincial championship on Sunday at 3pm.