Diego Presingular stops on a dime against TRU's Dami Farinloye on Saturday (Husain Dhooma photo).
Diego Presingular stops on a dime against TRU's Dami Farinloye on Saturday (Husain Dhooma photo).
November 9, 2025

Griffins lose heartbreaker, coming closer than anyone has to beating TRU this season

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Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON — This is a loss that will hurt in the short-term, but when the MacEwan Griffins get to where they want to be as a program, it will just be a footnote.

One night after one of their most disappointing losses of the year, the Griffins showed a ton of grit and heart, but fell just short – 65-64 to the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack on Saturday at David Atkinson gym. It's the closest anyone has come this season to knocking off undefeated TRU.

"I'm very proud of the guys. I challenged the guys after last night's game that we were going to come back and show that we're a better team than we showed on Friday," said Griffins head coach David Kapinga.

"We executed our adjustments, and all I told them to do is if you listen to me, we'll stay close, and they played really hard.

"The important thing for them is to start believing. Believing they can be a team we know we can be."

Marcus ISO Moore led the Griffins with 14 points, three rebounds and one assist, while Diego Presingular chipped in with 11 points. Job Janda had eight points and eight rebounds, as MacEwan fell to 2-4 this season.

MacEwan led 17-14 after the first quarter, but TRU came up with a big second quarter to lead 34-30 at the half.

Both teams shot the ball well in the third quarter, and went back-and-forth exchanging leads, but the Griffins went on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter and led 56-55.

While both teams combined for 47 points in the third quarter, both defences were locked in for the final quarter, and neither team was making it easy to get to the basket and score.

MacEwan shot just 3-of-13 in the fourth, and TRU shot just 2-of-19, but they got to the foul line five times and hit all their shots from the charity stripe. The Griffins didn't attempt a foul shot in the final 10 minutes.

MacEwan held the lead with 31.3 seconds left and some strong defence from ISO Moore forced TRU into a turnover, but the Griffins weren't able to score on their next possession, and couldn't increase their 64-63 lead.

Jayden Stephens then drove to the rim off an inbounds pass in the dying seconds. Despite the Griffins crashing the paint and defending him well, his shot dropped to give the WolfPack a 65-64 lead with 16.6 seconds left.

TRU (5-0) who is the only undefeated team left in the Canada West conference was led by Dami Farinloye who recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Stephens chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds.

"They made it real tough on us (offensively) in the fourth quarter," said Kapinga.

"I think it's important to understand what a good team does to someone. The way (TRU) played, is what we inspire to do to other teams. Never give teams good shot (opportunities), never let them get comfortable."

The Griffins had their chances to take the lead in the final moments, but ISO Moore missed a put-back on a missed shot, and, with 3.6 seconds left, Presingular was able to get a tough shot off from the corner, but it hit the rim.

They executed the final play the way they wanted to, they just didn't score.

"Basketball is such a rhythm sport, such a confidence sport, and when you start to not see the ball go in, the one that's supposed to go in, doesn't go in," said Kapinga.

"I told them I've very proud of them, but I told them to remember this feeling. I don't want to make it about one possession at the end of the game.

"There were a lot of possessions early in the game where we weren't focused with the details that allowed them to get confidence to get to where they got."

Kapinga said while his team responded with a strong effort, and showed a lot of poise and composure after losing by 22 points the night before, but it came down to some lack of details in their game that contributed to the loss.

"I want 40 minutes of detail-oriented basketball. Not 10 minutes, not 20 minutes, not 39. Forty minutes," said Kapinga.

"That's something that I want them to grab that feeling of today, where you have that chance and hope and someone destroys it, and make sure it doesn't happen again

"That's a lesson for a winning team to get, that winning culture to understand. This is our road to winning. It's part of that pitfall, but we got to stand up and keep marching forward."

MacEwan will travel to Calgary next weekend to battle the Mount Royal Cougars.