The Algonquin Thunder men’s varsity basketball team fell short on Feb. 2, losing 80-71 to the Seneca Sting.
Kevin Metelus led the way for the Thunder, with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jay Spring and Ernest Tolete each added 15 points.
The first quarter was a competitive one, with both teams making efficient passes and playing smart defensively. The Thunder trailed 21-19 heading into the second quarter, where they were much stronger, outscoring their opponents 15-10 to take a 34-31 lead going into the half.
The third quarter was not kind to the Thunder, as they struggled with turnovers, allowing Seneca to build a 10-point lead heading into the final frame. The fourth quarter saw the Thunder mount a furious comeback attempt.
Unfortunately, they were unable to get a defensive stop, as Seneca continued to score at will, walking away with the 80-71 victory.
Thunder coach Trevor Costello was still happy with his team’s overall performance.
“Better effort. Much better effort than we’ve been putting out,” said Costello. “We were in this game right till the end, we had a chance. But again, there’s always times in our games that we have mental breakdowns and there’s about a three-minute segment there that they went on a run, with bad turnovers leading to easy buckets.”
After a close first half, things seemed to go sideways for the Thunder coming out of the break. Costello offered up a simple answer as to why that was the case.
“Again, turnovers. Bad turnovers leading to easy baskets,” he said. “They’re the number two team in the country, they’re a tough team…bout two or three minutes of bad basketball, and that game could’ve been a lot different.”