News

The NAIT Ooks needed awhile to wake up last weekend. When they finally started to focus, they quickly obliterated the Grande Prairie Wolves in weekend men's basketball.

Ooks head coach Don Phillips expected a major test as Grande Prairie had recently added Tissaine Brown from Toronto and Giovanni Johnson from Detroit. At the end of the first quarter, trailing 19-12, it seemed Phillips had known what was coming.

But things changed dramatically in the second when NAIT collected 35 points and built an 11-point lead at the half on the way to a 115-75 victory in the first half of the twin-bill.

Five Ooks finished in double figures: Shane Cox with 21 points, Gerard Mozwa with 15 and Rodel Grenaway, Cyril Ashworth and Nick Zutz with 12 each.

Zutz, who joined NAIT at the Christmas break, played extremely well, scoring on several brilliant passes from Grenaway.

In Saturday's overwhelming 125-63 display, the Ooks burst out to a 40-point lead at halftime.

Shane Reece was terrific with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Hot-shooting Evan Eger was three-for-four in shots from outside the arc and wound up with 11 points, adding to the 19 points provided by Cox, 18 by Chris Neptune, 13 by Klaus Figueiredo and 11 by Dan Perepeluk.

Grenaway spent the evening as a playmaker, winding up with 11 assists.

"I was impressed at our focus, our togetherness and the level of support for teammates coming from our bench, said Phillips, describing the trip to Grande Prairie as a "time to build together on our team-cohesiveness."

He praised the leadership of Mozwa, Reece and Cox and came away with a distinct conclusion:

"If we continue to develop as a team . . . the only team that can defeat us is ourselves.

"We have all the tools necessary to to experience the ultimate success (a title) in a competitive Canadian Colleges Athletic Association."