The Brock Badgers men’s and women’s basketball teams will each carry 3-1 league records into their home opening games Friday night at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The games kick off a double-double weekend, with the men and women playing a doubleheader against Lakehead at Brock Friday night before hosting the same Lakehead Thunderwolves teams Saturday at the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines. While the games at Bob Davis Friday night are sold out, there are still some tickets remaining for the games at the Meridian Centre, home of the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs.
It has been a remarkable start to the season for both Badgers basketball teams.
After finishing last year with an 8-11 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) record, the women’s team went 4-0 against CIS teams in the pre-season to get the No. 6 ranking in Canada heading into the regular season. They now sit at 3-1 in the OUA with their only loss coming by three points against McMaster, who went into the season ranked No. 1 in Canada.
“The team is still very young but we are getting production from everyone and our senior players have given us great leadership,” said women’s coach Si Khounviseth. “If we defend and shoot the ball consistently, we will be a tough team to beat on a nightly basis.”
He said the team is excited to play both games this weekend.
“You can feel the buzz on campus so it’s an awesome feeling. I know our players will be feeding off the energy,” Khounviseth said.
The Brock men’s team has also had a strong start, maintaining its No. 4 ranking in Canada through the first few weeks of the year. The Badgers won the first three games of the OUA season before losing to Queen’s Nov. 21.
Coach Charles Kissi said the team is happy to be part of a significant event in Brock’s history.
“We’re excited about the fact we’re building this huge community through our game,” he said. “People are excited about watching us play.”
After failing to make the playoffs with a 4-18 record two years ago and a 7-12 mark last year, the Badgers are on track for a big improvement this year.
“We’re 10-1 in CIS competition so far so I think we’ve come a long way in two years,” Kissi said. “We feel really good about that and the progress we’ve made, but there’s still a lot further to go.”
The doubleheader weekend gets started Friday night with the women playing at 6 p.m. and the men tipping off at 8 p.m. at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
Saturday night’s schedule at the Meridian Centre starts with the women playing at 5 p.m. followed by the men playing at 7 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday games are on sale through Ticketmaster for $15 for adults and $10 for youths, students and seniors.
