Mar 11, 2015
Vancouver, BC – The Langara Falcons men’s basketball team has qualified for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national championships. The Falcons won silver after dropping an 82-76 decision to the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners in last weekend’s PACWEST provincial championship final. The national championships run March 18-21 at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario. The Falcons are seeded fifth and will play the #4 seed Humber Hawks on Thursday, March 19, 12:00 pm (PST).
"While we are disappointed to not bring home a third straight PACWEST title to Langara, we are looking forward to returning to nationals as a wildcard where we have a chance to defend our national title,” said head coach Paul Eberhardt. “We open up with Humber College in the first round and they are an extremely talented team, having been ranked first or second all season long. We will have to play a very physical, disciplined game if we expect to be successful.”
The Falcons are the defending CCAA champions after knocking off the Red Deer College Kings 88-86 in last years final, hosted by Quest University in Squamish. It was their first national championship since consecutive titles in 1998 and 1999.
In a thrilling championship last Saturday at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, the Falcons and Mariners were tied 58-58 after three quarters. Despite 5th-year forward Elliot Mason’s 29 points, the Falcons couldn’t get defensive stops when they needed them as the Mariners won the final quarter 24-18. Garrett Ling-Lee added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Langara, and Jitinder Lohcham finished with 10 points. The Falcons outrebounded VIU 47-40 overall. The Mariners got 25 points from their bench, while the Falcons’ bench contributed 12 points.
Montell Lindgren and Elliot Mason were both named to the Tournament All-Star team. The Mariners’ Justin King was named Tournament MVP.
The Falcons, the #2 seed at the PacWest provincial tournament, defeated the #6 seed Capilano Blues 92-69 in a semi-final on Friday. Jitinder Lohcham led with 33 points and 9 rebounds, and Elliot Mason added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Photo courtesy of Columbia Bible College Athletics.
Media Contact
Mark Dawson
Communications Officer
Langara College
604.323.5702
mdawson@langara.bc.ca