Langara Falcons win 2014 CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

The Langara Falcons are Canada’s men’s college basketball champions, after a nail-biter against the Red Deer Kings in Squamish last Saturday.

The Falcons, who only lost one game in the 2013-2014 season, beat the Kings at the Quest University gym March 15 to win the CCAA National Championship, after a 15-year hiatus from taking top spot.

The Falcons went into the tournament at the top spot of B.C.’s PACWEST Conference and were down by six points going into the fourth quarter of the final game, but came back to beat the Kings 88-86.

Brody Greig named tournament MVP

Point guard Brody Greig was named MVP of the tournament after averaging a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists per game.

“He’s easily the best point guard in the country at the college level,” Falcons coach Paul Eberhardt said. “He’s a very special player.”

Eberhardt was also recognized for his performance this season and was named PACWEST’s coach of the year. He said he’ll be back to coach the Falcons next season and has hopes for another national championship.

“You got one, you got to get two, right?” he said. “This is an amazing group of men and I am so proud of [how] hard they worked and how much heart the showed on our way to winning the gold medal.”

Semifinal game was even tougher

As exciting as the final game was, Eberhardt said the most dramatic match was the Falcons’ semifinal match against the Vanier Cheetahs of Montreal on March 14. With only 1:40 remaining in the game and a 10-point deficit, the Falcons managed to push the game into overtime at 94-94 and then win 103-102.

“Pretty much everyone thought it was over,” said Falcon forward Jitinder Lohcham. “To be honest, I can’t even tell you how we ended up tying the game.”

Eberhardt was surprised too.

“After the game was over, I said to my assistant, ‘How the hell did we win that game?’ It was one of the most impressive comebacks I have ever been a part of in my [30 years] of coaching.”

Reported by Edrick Dudang

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