CapU Blues sports info
The Capilano Blues journey at the CCAA National Championship, and for the 2024-25 season as a whole, came to a close Friday afternoon with a 74-64 loss to the Keyano College Huskies of Alberta.
It was the third game in as many days for both teams, each having dropped their first two contests. Capilano could never get into synch offensively on Friday, failing to reach 20 points in any quarter.
Shakir Yakubu had it going early for the Blues with seven points in the opening frame but that would be all his scoring on the afternoon. Zach Klim had his best game of the tournament, scoring nine of his game-high 20 in the first half.
Capilano trailed by four at halftime and by the same margin after three quarters but could never get consistent stops on defence that might have allowed them to get on a run and in front on the scoreboard. Keyano pulled away late in the proceedings on consecutive layups by Yasser Abdullah and Nahshon Hurst. A three in the final minute from Abdullah, who took Player of the Game for the Huskies, removed all doubt as to the outcome.
Klim scored 10 in the final frame, thanks in large part to an 8-for-8 showing at the free-throw line, and ended up with 11 rebounds for the game to record a double-double.
Arshya Ghasemi finished with eight points, including a pair of threes, and six assists in 22 minutes off the bench while Kash Lang was the only Blues starter to approach double digits with nine points which included a pair from beyond the arc.
Klim was Player of the Game for the Blues.
The 2024-25 season was one of fits and starts for the Blues who began the campaign 6-1 only to finish the PACWEST regular season at 13-11. Entering the postseason as the conference No. 3 seed, they got on a roll and played their best basketball of the season at the PACWEST provincial tournament on home court, knocking off Douglas and then higher-seeded Camosun before stopping top-ranked Vancouver Island University in the gold-medal game.
CapU's best chance for a win at nationals came on day one, when they were up late on Humber College but couldn't put them away. Humber plays for gold Saturday against Durham College in an all-Ontario rematch of the OCAA provincial final which was won by Durham.
