EDMONTON, Alta. - In a game where the biggest scoring run was just seven points, and there was little to no breathing room — the MacEwan Griffins couldn't afford any big mistakes against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Down 63-62 with less than four minutes to play, the Griffins allowed an open three off a missed coverage, and moments later allowed a layup off a turnover to extend the Huskies lead to 68-62, and that was just enough of an opening for Saskatchewan to escape with a 69-64 win on Friday night at the David Atkinson gym.
It was the Huskies second win of the season, as they look to close out the 2024-25 campaign strong with five of their final six games coming on the road. Meanwhile the Griffins draw even with the Dogs after suffering their 13th loss of the campaign.
MacEwan was led by Job Janda, who led the Griffins with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Milan Jaksic recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Justice Byam chipped in with nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in the loss as MacEwan fell to 2-13 this season.
Saskatchewan was led by
Easton Thimm's 15 points and 16 rebounds, while
Griffin Sharkey scored 14 points and was clutch beyond the arc hitting four three-pointers.
The Griffins are battling for one of the last playoff spots in the conference, so each game down the stretch is crucial. Losing to the Huskies was costly, as Saskatchewan now has an identical 2-13 record, and they trail Alberta and Regina (both 6-9) by four games.
MacEwan trailed 21-14 after the opening quarter and 44-39 at half in a half that saw them only hold the lead for 1:04, but they stayed in the sight lines of Saskatchewan.
MacEwan was up against the Huskies' massive front court duo of Thimm (6'9") and seven-footer Ryker Wutke, and while they battled relatively even on the boards, they gave up 14 second-chance points in the first half.
MacEwan cleaned up their play in that area of the second half, but they went cold offensively at crucial times.
They'd get multiple stops at the defensive end, but then couldn't score to either take the lead or extend their lead.
After Saskatchewan was able to extend their lead to 68-62 on the biggest scoring run of the game (7-0), the Griffins weren't able to score on their opportunities as they made some unforced turnovers, or they missed some good looks.
MacEwan and Saskatchewan will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT (Canada West TV) at the David Atkinson gym.
