Hoops squad headed in the ‘right direction’ after shootout victory
For the first time since 2014, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies are Ron and Jane Graham Shootout champions.
The host Huskies pulled off three consecutive convincing wins — knocking off the Nipissing University Lakers, Macewan University Griffins and University of Fraser Valley Cascades — to claim the hardware in the 20th annual tournament.
On Saturday, the Huskies downed the Lakers 88-61 to clinch the tournament title in front of Ron and Jane Graham.
Saskatchewan has now won the event nine times, including a string of six straight from 2009-14.
“We’re moving in the right direction, I think,” said U of S head coach Barry Rawlyk, whose team closed out exhibition play with a 5-2 record.
“We’re obviously making progress. It’s early season for everybody, so there are still mistakes being made, but we see the potential to get better.”
JT Robinson led the Dogs with 19 points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. The six-footone guard from Vallejo, Calif., punctuated back-to-back fast breaks with a slam dunk.
“I think we did really good, especially in the defensive end,” said Robinson. “We’ve got a bunch of new guys, but they fit in really good with the system we have now. They’re learning really well. They fit in really well. Overall, it was a great tournament. We’ve got some things to pick up on starting in practice this week. We’ll only get better from here.”
Lawrence Moore added 18 points, four assists and four steals. Chan De Ciman chipped in with 14 points, three steals and four rebounds. Maxwell Amoafo had 13 rebounds to go with nine points.
Rookie Alexander Dewar also scored nine points. Cousin Addison added six points, as did Nolah Nickel.
“It’s always nice to play as many bodies as you possibly can,” said Rawlyk. “There is great value in depth, so getting these guys some experience and minutes is a great benefit.”
The Huskies have eight rookies on their 16-man roster, including Nickel and Dewar.
“Particularly with the number of first-year guys we have, we think we have a pretty high ceiling,” said Rawlyk. “There’s a lot of room for us to improve. That’s something to be pretty excited about. The reality is that the first half of our conference schedule is going to be extremely difficult, so we’ll see how resilient we are once we get into our conference play. Just the way the schedule falls, it’s a pretty tough first half for us.”
Saskatchewan will open up the season with six of its first eight games on the road, including its season-opening weekend in Vancouver against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds this weekend.
“Most definitely, the schedule will be tough, but I think we can handle it with the guys we have,” said Robinson.
Of course, the key will be staying away from the injury bug.
“Exactly,” said Robinson. “If we all stay healthy, we’re all on the same page.”