The men’s Hurricanes will host the UKC Blue Devils on Saturday at 4 p.m., and the Dal AC Rams on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Holland College women will entertain UKC on Saturday at 2 p.m. All games are at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement in Charlottetown.
Men
The men’s Hurricanes, the 2017 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s basketball national championship hosts and the CCAA’s top-ranked team, begin second-semester play at 7-0 (won-lost), and sit in first place in the conference standings.
The Hurricanes currently lead the ACAA in points scored, averaging 96.9 points per game. Holland College has been led offensively by Trenity Burdine, who’s averaged 17.7 points per game, while Abel Joseph, Roosevelt Whyley and Travis Adams have averaged 14.9, 14.2 and 14.0 points.
The Blue Devils enter the weekend at 2-7 while the Rams are 1-6. The Hurricanes won the only matchup so far this season against the Blue Devils 94-66 in Halifax on Nov. 12. This will be the first matchup this season between Holland College and the Rams.
The Hurricanes’ lineup will be bolstered with the addition of Michael Kayeye and Chase Bowden.
Kayeye, who’s from Malton, Ont., played last season with the Humber College Hawks in Toronto while Chase Bowden returns for his fourth season after playing with Holland College from 2012-2015.
Bowden, who’s from New Glasgow, N.S., is the Holland College men’s all-time leading scorer with 909 career points over three seasons.
The additions of Kayeye and Bowden make the Hurricanes a much deeper and talented squad as they look to claim a national championship on home court.
Women
The women Hurricanes enter the second half ranked sixth in the nation at 6-1. They are tied for first in the ACAA with the MSVU Mystics.
The Hurricanes are second in the conference in average points scored per game with 72.6. Individually, the ‘Canes are led by Jayla Verney, who leads the ACAA averaging 17.1 points per game.
The Blue Devils are sixth in the conference at 1-7. The Hurricanes took the only matchup of the season so far with the Blue Devils 74-55 on Nov.12 in Nova Scotia.
The Hurricanes welcome Cassie Cooke of Westminster, Md., to the lineup for the second half of the season. Cooke is a former Atlantic University Sport (AUS) MVP, Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) All-Canadian and CIS scoring champion with the Cape Breton University Capers and Brandon University Bobcats between 2011 and 2014.
“I’ve been training hard, and coming into the second half makes me feel like I have everything to prove,” said the five-foot-eight guard. “The pressure I feel will most definitely be used as motivation to win the national championship in Edmonton this year with the Hurricanes.”
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