North Vancouver, B.C. – The Quest Men’s Basketball team finished off the Blues Classic with a convincing 74-60 win over Kwantlen Polytechnic University.  The Kermodes finished with a 2-1 record over the Thanksgiving weekend.  After dropping a tough 94-87 Overtime loss to Capilano University, they rebounded Saturday with a one point buzzer beater over the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.

On Friday the Men kicked off the 2009-2010 season with an exciting overtime game with the host Blues.  After leading 35-34 at halftime they found themselves trailing 61-71 with just under four minutes to play.  Second year point guard Bryce Froberg (Meridian/Bellingham, WA) hit two free throws with 9 seconds to go to tie the game at 73.  In overtime the Blues jumped out quickly to a 9 point lead and held off another comeback by the Kermodes. 
 “It was nice to see the guys respond to some adversity in the 4th quarter.” said Quest Head Coach Sean Shook.  “Last year we might have folded the tents down 10 but we didn’t and found a way to get the game tied up.”
 John Pankratz (Brookswood/Langley, B.C.) led the scoring with 16 points and Kyle Thorau (Glenlyon Norfolk/Victoria, B.C.) chipped in with 15.

Saturday afternoon Quest got out early on CBC leading 24-10 at the end of the first quarter.  Pankratz poured in 11 points in the frame.  After leading by as much as 19 points the Kermodes were unable to stave off a CBC second half rally that saw them take the lead for the first time, with 3.5 seconds to go on a deep three, 79-78.  After a time-out Quest was able to get the ball into Jesse Norris (Mt View/Vancouver, WA) who hit a floater at the buzzer to cap off a 22 point/14 rebound performance for the transfer from Highline College.
“Jesse has definitely made an impact early for us.” commented Shook, “He dominated the boards which allowed us to get out and run and build up that early lead.”
Mukiya Post (Oak Bay/Victoria B.C.) continued his consistent scoring adding 9 points off the bench in the second half.  Pankratz finished with 13 points and Froberg added 7 assists.

On Sunday Quest trailed early but made a second quarter run spurred on by Post’s 10 points in the frame.  There was no let up in the 3rd as Kwantlen was outscored 20 to 10 leaving the Kermodes with a commanding 54-36 lead to start the 4th.
“We did a better job defensively in the second defending Kwantlen’s flex attack.” said Shook.  “Post came in and gave us a spark which carried over through halftime.”
Norris once again led in scoring, hitting for 15 points.  Fellow big man Brodan Robertson (Carson Graham/North Vancouver, B.C.) added 10 points and 7 boards.
 Overall it was a successful weekend, but we need to shoot better from the line come league play or that might cost us some games,” remarked Shook.

Quest has the upcoming weekend off before travelling down the I-5 Corridor to take on Multnomah University on October 23 and Portland Bible College the next night.  Both games are scheduled for 7:00PM starts.