Pilots Down Rouges in 66-61 Home Court Thriller

(NIVERVILLE, MB)  - The Providence Pilots hosted St. Boniface University Les Rouges for the Pilots final home game of the 2023-24 MCAC basketball season. The Pilots celebrated the career of point guard Blake Garing (Winnipeg, MB) who is set to graduate later this spring.

Both the Pilots and Rouges battled hard to start the game; the Pilots found most of their success by driving the net. Les Rouges clearly saw this and made sure to lockdown their end of the court defensively. One thing is for certain, Les Rouges’ basketball program is looking promising for the third season in the MCAC. Pushing the defending champions to their absolute limits proved just how much development USB’s program has undergone since their inception.

Les Rouges were led by Cabrel St. Vincent who scored 15 points and Michael Anyaba who scored a game-high 16 points. The Pilots scoring was far more spread out; eight different Pilots found their way onto the scoresheet while three players notched double digits. Fittingly, Blake Garing led the Pilots with a game high 14 points with Riley Paul (Brandon, MB) scored 13 of his own.

The Pilots had a firm lead heading into the second half, outscoring Les Rouges 38-30. Complimenting the programs strong development, Les Rouges pushed the defending champions to the brink by closing the Pilots lead to just one point late in the fourth quarter. However, the Pilots dug deep and persevered to narrowly avoid defeat. A 66-61 thriller and the final MCAC Basketball regular season game is in the books.

The defending MCAC champions will make their way to St. Boniface University in Winnipeg next weekend to tip-off with CMU for the 2024 banner.