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Rattlers sweep Clippers to open weekend in Saskatchewan

Feb 2, 2019 | 12:27 PM

CARONPORT, SK – Kate Rozdeba and Kiana Mintz helped the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s basketball team prevent a sizable upset on Friday night.

Medicine Hat edged out the 7-9 Briercrest Clippers 89-83 out east, picking up their fifth straight victory in one of their closest games of the season.

Rozdeba hit all three of her shots in the first quarter to put the Rattlers up 22-19 after 10 minutes, however the Clippers rallied in the second quarter with 12 points from Tracy Lewis to jump into the lead 43-38 at halftime.

Medicine Hat’s Morgan Muir came out of the break with seven points, three assists, three steals, and two rebounds in the third quarter alone to put Medicine Hat back into the lead by a 71-62 score.

Briercrest pressed hard with 22 points in the fourth looking to close the gap, however the Rattlers were able to keep the Clippers at bay to win by six points.

Rozdeba was named Medicine Hat’s player of the game with 23 points and four rebounds, while Mintz had 20 points and five rebounds off the bench for Medicine Hat.

The Rattlers became the first team in the ACAC to reach 30 points on the year, improving their record to 15-2 which is good enough for top spot in Alberta.

No shortage of scoring in the men’s game shortly after, as Medicine Hat controlled the pace of play all night to earn an 87-64 win over the Clippers.

One week after setting the ACAC single-game rebounds record, Kieron Burgess recorded his eighth straight double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds on Friday.

Medicine Hat came out of the gate with a 26-14 lead after the first quarter, capped off eight points and a pair of three-pointers from Jaamel Slack.

In the second quarter, Slack added another nine points to his totals along with an assist, a steal, and a block to give the Rattlers a 20-point lead at the half.

Burgess’ play down low paid off for Medicine Hat out of the break, contributing nine points to grow the visitors’ lead to 69-41 after three quarters.

Briercrest outscored Medicine Hat 23-18 over the fourth quarter thanks to CJ Greer’s 12 points, but the gap was far too much to overcome.

Burgess led the Rattlers in both points and rebounds to tale home player of the game honours, while Slack was the other standout for the visitors with 22 points to his name.

Keeping pace with the Ambrose University Lions for second place in the South Division with an 11-6 record, the Rattlers have now won five of their last six games.

The Rattlers basketball teams wind up their weekend on Saturday afternoon, with a pair of matinee meetings against the Clippers in Caronport.