Team BC men advance to semifinals in basketball

It was a strong first half of the quarter-final game for Team BC with the dominant play of Adam Paige (Surrey) helping BC build up a 37-30 lead over Saskatchewan.

But Saskatchewan picked up steam in the third quarter scoring 23 points to tie the game 53-53.

It was a tense fourth quarter with both sides keeping up the pressure. Saskatchewan was leading 62-60 with less than two minutes to go when BC scored seven points quickly to retake the lead en route to a 69-65 victory.

BC advances to the semifinal.  The opponent will be decided in play on Tuesday night.

Scoring summary
Team BC: 22-15-16-16: 69
Team SK:  20-10-23-12: 65

Team BC scoring leaders
SCOTT, Caelan (Victoria): 17
PAIGE, Adam (Surrey): 12
McCHESNEY, Liam (Prince Rupert): 12

Quotes: 

McCHESNEY, Liam (Prince Rupert)

On today’s game
“It was very intense and the fans really got us going and really had a positive outcome on our game.”

On going to the semifinal
“This is semis, it means a lot. We’ve just got to keep playing with lots of energy and play together.”

PAIGE, Adam (Surrey)

On how Team BC played today
“We were up early and they started to grinding us and working us down and they started to take the lead. They had a lot of fans who were going crazy and their bench had a lot of energy.”

On the tight last minute of the game
“We just stayed with it. We kept going with our game plan.”

On going to the semifinal
“Our goal is to win a medal, so this is where we had to be. So, definitely now, I think our goal is to win the whole thing. I think we have a great chance to do that.”