Wolves basketball teams split doubleheader in close exhibition contests

The Wolves women’s team won Friday’s exhibition basketball doubleheader against Heritage College at the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre.

The Wolves started with momentum, but the second and third quarters proved difficult as Heritage stayed close and challenged the Wolves on both ends of the court.

Algonquin entered the fourth quarter needing to regain control.

McLean said the team remained focused despite the challenges it faced.

“Perseverance was the key to today’s win,” McLean said.

The Wolves began to turn the game midway through the fourth quarter. McLean said the team became more focused defensively while improving ball movement on offence.

“There was a point midway through the fourth quarter where we started to lock in on defence and started to move the ball well on offence, and that’s when the score started to shift in our favour,” McLean said.

The Wolves held on to secure the 52-48 victory.

Despite the win, McLean said the team still has work to do before the regular season begins.

“We have to focus on consistent play,” he said. “We are still young and early in the season. Learning to play at a consistent level is going to be key to our success this year.”

McLean also identified decision-making as an area for improvement, saying the team needs to better recognize what is happening on the court instead of forcing plays.

“One thing we need to continue to focus on developing is our ability to read what’s in front of us,” he said.

Men’s basketball battles back but falls short

The men took the court at 8 p.m. against Montmorency and fought back from a deficit.

Wolves guard Shyheem Brown said the Wolves stayed composed and kept competing.

“They had a stretch where they were kind of pulling the lead, and we didn’t let it get to us,” Brown said. “We fought back, and we ended up tying the game and even being up a point in the fourth quarter.”

Brown said the men’s team also improved their work on ball screens but struggled to stop Montmorency from getting into the paint.

“The main thing that we struggled to capitalize on was just stopping dribble penetration,” he said. “If we stopped the ball penetration, we could’ve easily stopped them much better on the defensive side.”

Struggling to create offensive opportunities, the men’s team lost possession several times after running out the shot clock.

“There were a lot of times where we were getting shots up at the last second of the shot clock,” Brown said. “We kind of got to get into our offence a bit earlier and try and get some better looks.”

Wolves forward Aydin Gilani also pointed to defence as an area that needed improvement.

“Our defence could have been much better,” Gilani said. “We were all over the place and weren’t communicating or staying organized.”

Gilani said the team showed more energy after halftime and kept competing despite the deficit.

“We came out with more effort and intensity, and we continued to compete even though we were down.”

The Wolves fought back and took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Montmorency held on for the 65-63 victory.

Brown said the comeback showed the team’s willingness to stay together.

“We fought back as a team,” he said. “We win as a team. We lose as a team.”

Both Wolves basketball teams are scheduled to open the regular season Oct. 23 at home against George Brown.