EDMONTON, Alta. – A Thursday night matchup that featured two teams beside each other in the standings produced a back and forth affair that resulted in a victory for the NAIT Ooks over the visiting Lakeland Rustlers 61-60 in a buzzer beater type finish.

With not much separating the two teams in the first half, balanced scoring throughout the roster on both sides produced a shot for shot, stop for stop kind of pace that resulted in a three-point lead for the Ooks going into the second half. The Ooks did the majority of their damage on the inside, accumulating 18 points in the paint by halftime.

A combination of Lakeland adjustments at the half and some cold shooting from the Ooks saw only three points scored by NAIT in the third quarter and allowed the Rustlers to take a ten-point lead into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter saw some aggressive plays from both teams and had Lakeland take their largest lead of the game by twelve points. But the Ooks found their shooting touch, catching fire late in the game to erase the deficit and complete the comeback, with fifth year player Sydney Hurlburt hitting the winning shot with about six seconds left to give the Ooks the one-point lead and ultimately a victory.

The win improves the Ooks to 9-2 at home on the season and take the season series lead over the Rustlers to 2-1.

Players of the Game

NAIT Ooks – Hallie Watt

Lakeland Rustlers – Bilge Topaloglu

The Big Picture

NAIT Ooks – 13-8 - Third in the ACAC north division

Lakeland Rustlers – 16-5 - Second in the ACAC north division

What's Next?

The teams will rematch tomorrow, February 21, 2020 at Lakeland Gymnasium