CARONPORT -- If the Briercrest College Clippers were a normal men’s basketball team, odds are very, very high they’d be playing for a bronze medal on Saturday afternoon instead of going for Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference gold.
Instead, the Clippers pulled off an incredible comeback, have qualified for the national championship and will now play for their first-ever ACAC title on their home court.
Despite trailing by as much as 13 points in the second quarter, the Clippers staged a rally for the second time in as many games and would go on to a 93-88 victory over the NAIT Ooks in the semifinal on Friday night at the Margaret P. Reimer gym in Caronport.
To say it was a tough start for the home team would be an understatement. Despite the overwhelming support of their rabid fans, Briercrest fell behind 28-20 after the opening 10 minutes and saw their deficit clear double digits in the second half before going into the break down 54-43.
Whatever changes head coach Shane Sowden made at halftime began to take effect quickly, and Briercrest would claw back the entire deficit and tie the game 58-58 with 4:59 to play in the third.
NAIT immediately staged a 10-2 rally over the next three minutes, though, and the Clippers would eventually head into the fourth quarter down 68-62.
The Ooks maintained their edge much of the final 10 minutes and led by nine with 4:32 to play when Briercrest’s Francis Dogani found a hot hand, going on a personal 6-0 run to get the Clippers within a pair.
Not long after, Briercrest tied things up, and Zach Martens would give the Clippers their first lead since the game’s opening minutes when he drained a jump shot with 1:35 to play, sending the packed house into hysterics.
A key three-pointer by Carter Waind would extend the lead to 90-84, and after NAIT got back within three with four seconds remaining, Clippers senior Riley Seaborn would drain a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach and secure the 93-88 win.
Dogani led Briercrest with 30 points, while Waind put up 27 and Seaborn added 11. Jude Shepherd-Hills had 13 rebounds.
Omar Farah topped NAIT with 32 points, Peter-Aluk Deng scored 25 and Peter Kugba-Nyande had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers -- who also qualified for the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship with the win -- will now face the Keyano College Huskies in the gold medal final after Keyano took an 88-82 win over St. Mary’s in their semifinal. That contest takes place at 6 p.m. in Caronport.
