Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Chuck Tobin

INTENSITY – The Bulls and the Tenacious D battled Saturday night in the championship of the Yukon Men’s Basketball League. While The Bulls took a 14-point lead into the second half, the Tenacious D fought to within one point with less than three minutes to play but couldn’t pull it out.

Bulls earn basketball championship in hotly contested final

Christian Coldea and Andrew Craigen led The Bulls Saturday night in their bid to win the championship of the Yukon Men’s Basketball League.

By Chuck Tobin on April 25, 2016

Christian Coldea and Andrew Craigen led The Bulls Saturday night in their bid to win the championship of the Yukon Men’s Basketball League.

Coldea and Craigen both scored 18 points in the 58-50 victory over the Tenacious D.

The Bulls jumped ahead early with an 8-0 lead, forcing the Tenacious D to take an early time out but The Bulls continued to press and took a 14-point lead into the second half.

But Tenacious D refused to go quietly with their top shooter, Sam Asiedu, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second half, bringing his club to within one point of the lead with less than three minutes to play.

A three-pointer by Craigen late in the game sealed the deal for The Bulls.

“It was a valiant effort by Tenacious D but The Bulls size and experience helped them stay in control of the game,” said league president Colin LaForme, who was also a power forward for Tenacious D.

“They got a lead and we came back. It was a good game, a good final.”

The Bulls went through the double-knockout playoff format undefeated in three games to reach the final.

Defending champions Willey Bears was one of the first teams eliminated after losing two straight in the playoffs.

Tenacious D earned a berth in the final in a somewhat lopsided semifinal affair Friday night in their match against the Caulkers.

Asiedu, Alex Poole and LaForme pushed the Tenacious D to an early lead when they combined for 10, three-pointers in the first half, taking a 53-25 spread into the break.

Though the Caulkers outscored the Tenacious D in the second half by a 37-25 margin, they were unable to make up the deficit, with the final score ending at 78-62 in Tenacious D’s favour.

Dave Stehlin was the top scorer for the Caulkers, netting 24 points in the semifinal.

For their efforts, the Caulkers finish third in the six-team league.

Jeremy McCulloch of the Monstars was named Saturday as the most valuable player of the men’s league while the award for defensive player of the season went to David Thexton of the Caulkers.

The sportmanship award was given to Graham Cochrane of Tenacious D and Kenny Burns of the Willey Bears was named the most improved player.

Rob Russel was given the award as the league’s top hustler, an award reserved to recognize the efforts of the older players.

Karl Gruber earned the award as the top three-point shooter, after shooting seven three-pointers in 30 seconds during Saturday night’s halftime competition.

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