Although the season's done, the Douglas College Royals men's basketball team has reason to bask in a job well done.
The squad put together a strong finish and carted off bronze at the PacWest provincial championships on Saturday, beating archnemesis Langara Falcons 83-71.
Despite a short bench, Douglas stuck to its gameplan and barrelled into a 26-22 lead after one quarter. Up by three at the half, the Royals weathered a bit of a storm in the second half but proved to be the better team in a game where the lead changed hands nine times. A big boost in their battle was how Douglas dominated the boards 52-36, while cashing in 16 points off turnovers.
During the regular season, Langara came away with a 2-1 head-to-head advantage and the tiebreaker after both teams finished with identical 10-8 records. However, the Royals delivered some foreshadowing in their final meeting in the regular season in late February, when they upset the Falcons 96-88 in overtime to set the stage for their eventual rematch.
In the bronze game, St. Thomas More alumnus Reese Morris led the way with 22 points and 16 rebounds, while Grant Campbell scored 18 points and Sheldon Derton contributed 17. New West native Sylvester Appiah chipped in 10 points.
It was a solid bounce-back effort after they were stopped in the semifinal 86-71 by eventual provincial champion Vancouver Island. The Royals stuck close to the Mariners and trailed by just five points after 10 minutes, but saw that gulf grow to 11 points at the half. Morris led Douglas shooters with 21 points and 12 boards.
Seeded fourth to start the tournament, the New West team began its run by beating host Quest 86-80 behind 26 points from Morris and 24 from Campbell to advance to the semifinal.
Both Morris and Campbell were recognized later with all-star selections.
