The Langara Falcons men鈥檚 basketball team will head to Quest University in Squamish next weekend to compete in the CCAA National Championships for the second year in a row.
The team came out on top of the PacWest playoffs after beating the Capilano Blues in the semi-finals and then the VIU Mariners in the championship game. Ending their season with 20 wins and only one loss put them into the number one spot in the country going into the national tournament, but according to coach Paul Eberhardt, that doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 smooth sailing from here.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have the number one seed obviously, but as you saw from last year, VIU ended up winning it and they were the sixth seed. So when you get to that level, everyone is pretty close,鈥� he said.
The team went into nationals last year in the top spot, but after losing the semi-finals in what Eberhardt referred to as 鈥渁 really tough, heartbreaker kind of game,鈥� the聽 Falcons took home the bronze.
鈥淚 think the guys are pretty motivated this year by that loss and want to make up for it,鈥� said Eberhardt.
Guard Glenn Ruby is excited about the tournament, but agreed their ranking doesn鈥檛 guarantee anything.
鈥淎ll that really matters is what happens at Quest for those three games.
Those rankings don鈥檛 really mean a whole lot,鈥� said Ruby.
鈥淭he number six ranked team won it last year and they鈥檝e got the ring on their finger, not us.鈥�
Their first match-up in the tournament is the Concordia Thunder from Alberta, whom they鈥檝e never played before.
Eberhardt said he and his team will prepare by reviewing a tape of Concordia鈥檚 final game.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be breaking it down and scouting them like crazy, but you never really know until you hit the floor,鈥� said Eberhardt. 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e a good match-up for us.鈥�
Eberhardt said the team will also get a chance to practice at Quest a couple times before the tournament to become acclimatized to their gym, which has been recently upgraded for the games.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be interesting there because it鈥檚 a small gym, but they鈥檝e got some really good upgrades,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hey got all new bleachers and got the floor redone. I think it seats 700 or 750 people now.鈥�
Quest鈥檚 close proximity to 麻豆传媒映画will allow for more Falcons fans to come show their support, compared to last year鈥檚 championship which was held at John Abbott College in St. Anne De Bellevue, Quebec.
With less than a week left, Ruby said they need to continue to practice hard.
鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to make sure we aren鈥檛 satisfied after winning that provincial championship,鈥� said Ruby.
We鈥檝e got to make sure we go into nationals still hungry rather than just being satisfied with the provincial title.鈥�
Guard Brody Greig, who was named PacWest player of the year award for the second year in a row, agreed.
鈥淚t was a really good season, we had a lot of fun,鈥� said Greig. 鈥淲e tied our record for wins last year, but we still have one more goal and that is to win a national championship.鈥�
