The Holland Hurricanes men’s and women’s basketball teams were victorious on Thursday night at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement in back-to-back Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association regular season games against the Crandall Chargers.

The ‘Canes women would pick up the 82-75 win while the men cruised to a 130-71 victory.

The women’s game was a matchup of two teams separated by just two points in the standings, as the ‘Canes and Chargers battle for the sixth and final ACAA playoff spot.

In the game, the ‘Canes took a 20-15 lead after the first quarter before extending it to 37-29 at the half. The Hurricanes continued to build on their lead in the third, going up 66-51, before holding off the Chargers in the fourth for the seven-point win.

Ashley Plaggenhoef led the ‘Canes with 19 points while also chipping in five rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block.

Sydney Goode scored 15 points off the bench with Lexi MacInnis and Desiree Oakley adding 13 and 11 respectively.

MacInnis added 15 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks while both Briontae Riley and Kassandra Little contributed eight rebounds each.

With the victory, the ‘Canes improve to 5-9 on the season and sit in sixth place, opening up a four-point lead over the 3-11 Chargers with seven regular season games remaining.

The Hurricanes will return to the court this Saturday when they host the MSVU Mystics at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement; tip-off is scheduled for 2pm.

The Mystics are 13-0 and in first place in the ACAA standings.  In their only game with Holland College this season, the Mystics defeated the ‘Canes 98-69 on December 2 in Halifax, NS.  MSVU is currently ranked as the second-best team in Canada, moving up from number three last week in the CCAA weekly national rankings.

In Thursday’s men’s game, the ‘Canes led the Chargers 31-17 after one quarter, and 61-37 at the half.  The Hurricanes would continue to build the lead in the second half, going up 94-48 after three quarters and picking up the 130-71 win.

Roosevelt Whyley led the way for the Hurricanes with 29 points, ten rebounds, and five assists with Travis Adams coming off the bench to score 20 points, ten rebounds, and six assists.

Connor Therrien recorded 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists with Jordan Holness adding 17 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.

Martin Campbell scored 12 points and 11 assists with Jace Colley adding 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks.

Adams and Therrien each had six threes in the game with the team shooting 21/42 from deep.

The Hurricanes are now 14-0 on the season and remain in first place in the ACAA while the Chargers drop to 8-6 and sit in fourth.

The Hurricanes, the number one ranked team in the country by the CCAA, will host the MSVU Mystics on Saturday at 4pm at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement. 

The Mystics are 11-2 and in second place in the conference as well as ranked at number 12 in Canada in this week’s CCAA national rankings.  The Hurricanes took the 112-89 victory in Halifax on December 2 in the only matchup with the Mystics so far this season.

Both basketball games are available to watch live on Saturday at www.ACAAtv.ca.

For more information on ACAA basketball, visit www.acaa.ca.

Connect with the basketball Hurricanes at www.twitter.com/caneswbball and www.twitter.com/canesmbball.

For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, please visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.twitter.com/hc_hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.

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