It is hard to imagine a more entertaining game than the one that was on display on Friday night in the Redeemer Royals Men's Basketball home opener. The Royals battled the visiting Sheridan Bruins in a tense, white-knuckle affair, leaving everyone on their toes from the first whistle to the last. 

Redeemer threw everything they had at the #2 ranked team in Canada and, backed by a full house of Royals faithful, almost pulled off the upset. Some clutch shooting in the final minutes of the game saw the Bruins erase an earlier 17 point deficit enroute to a 96-91 win. 

The home team led most of the game, coming out strong in the first quarter with a 13-4 run to start the game. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that the Bruins finally took their first lead of the game at 85-82.

Redeemer's Oliver McMayoni had a game-high 22 points. Josh de Schiffert and Rayvon Higdon each pitched in with 19 of their own. All starters had double digit points for the Royals (Nathan Di Loreto 14 & Jacob Walda 15) as Redeemer put up their highest point totals of the season. 

Head Coach Jamie Girolametto commented after the match, "we made some good strides tonight; there are good things to come". After Friday's performance that would be hard to disagree with. Redeemer's fans are in for a treat moving forward if the home openers were any indication of the skill and determination this squad can put on the floor on their home court. 

Redeemer's record now drops to 1-2 with the loss. The Royals next see action the following weekend when they travel to Sudbury for a double-header against the Cambrian Golden Shield.