if =. oT VANCOUVER SPORTS PICTURES photo Coach Paul Eberhardt, front and centre in the brown suit, led the Langara Falcons to their first CCAA National Championship trophy since 1999. FALCONS TAKE CHAMPIONSHIPS! Langara’s men’s basketball team defeats Red Deer Kings, Greig named tourney’s MVP By EDRICK DUDANG he Langara Falcons are Canada’s men’s college basketball champi- ons after a nail-biter against the Red Deer Kings in Squamish last Saturday. The Falcons, who only lost one game in the 2013-2014 season, beat the Kings at the Quest University gym March 15 to win the CCAA National Champion- ship, after a 15-year hiatus from the top spot. The Falcons went into the tourna- ment leading B.C.’s PacWest Confer- ence and were down by six points going into the fourth quarter of the final game, but came back to beat the Kings 88-86. Point guard Brody Greig was named MVP of the tournament after averag- ing a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists per game. “He’s easily the best point guard in the country at the college level,” Fal- cons coach Paul Eberhardt said. “He’s a very special player.” Eberhardt was also recognized for his performance this season and was named PacWest’s coach of the year. He said he'll be back to coach the Falcons next season and has hopes for another national championship. “You got one, you got to get two, right?” he said. “This is an amazing group of men and I am so proud of [how] hard they worked and how much heart the showed on our way to win- ning the gold medal.” As exciting as the final game was, Eberhardt said the most dramatic match was the Falcons’ semifinal against Montreal’s Vanier Cheetahs on March 14. With only 1:40 remaining in the game and a 10-point deficit, the Fal- cons managed to push the game into overtime, tying at 94-94. The Falcon’s then won in overtime, beating the Cheetahs 103-102. “Pretty much everyone thought it was over,” said Falcon forward Jitinder Lohcham. “To be honest, I can’t even tell you how we ended up tying the game.” Eberhardt was surprised too. “After the game was over, I said to my assistant, ‘How the hell did we win that game?’ It was one of the most im- pressive comebacks I have ever been a part of in my [80 years] of coaching.” SEASON Highlights PACWEST CHAMPS Went 20-1 in 21 games HIGHEST SCORING Averaged 99 points per game, highest in Canada PACWEST AWARDS Brody Greig, Paul Eberhardt named player, coach of the year, Jitinder Lohcham named all-star Langara marketing student Many balls up for grabs Langara athletics department loans bocce, croquet sets finds persistence pays off, lands role with Whitecaps Andrew Kocicka turned his childhood passion for soccer into a career By DAVID LA RIVIERE teacher, Langara student Andrew Kocicka was raised playing sports, but soccer was always his passion. When it came time for him to choose a career path, he set his sights on work- ing for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and this year, he pulled it off. After years of volunteering and in- terning with the Whitecaps, Kocicka was hired by the team’s front office through a Langara co-op program as an account executive of inside sales in January. Kocicka’s journey to the Whitecaps has been a struggle since he first joined Langara’s VOLT volunteer program during the first semester of his busi- ness program. Kocicka applied for five different po- sitions with the club, but never got the job. He continued to volunteer, managing the club’s ball boys, giving tours and doing whatever else he could to get his foot in the door and make connections with people in the organization. “IT Kept getting rejected, which was fine because I got back up,” said Kocic- ka, in the conference room of the Whitecaps office in Gastown. A: the son of a physical education The Whitecaps have played in a number of divisions since 1974 but ex- perienced rapid growth in popularity when they began playing in the Major League Soccer league in 2011, where they take on the best teams in Canada and the United States, such as the LA Galaxy. “The club has gotten better and bet- ter every year,” Kocicka said. “And I wanted to get in at ground level which I did, and now I want to work my way up.” Kocicka’s love for the sport goes be- yond selling tickets and networking - in May 2013 he co-founded Freekicks Kenya with Whitecaps marketing in- tern and Langara alumnus Dean Tsatouhas. The men went to Kisii, Ke- nya with $1,500 and donated soccer balls with the goal of inspiring youth in the area to continue with education and to promote healthy communities. Kocicka hopes to establish Freekicks Kenya as an official partner of the Free- kicks organization, a non-profit that aims to bring soccer to communities around the world by providing them with equipment and coaching. “T want to inspire people to do things they never thought [were] possible, that’s why Kenya was so important to me,” he said. Im ANDREW KOCICKA Langara market- ing student 66 I kept getting rejected, which was fine because I got back up By CHRIS SLATER some sun, kill some time and get a little exercise this spring can go to the school’s athletics department for some free and fun games. From bocce balls to volleyballs, foot- balls to Frisbees, Langara’s gymnasi- um staff have plenty of equipment for students to sign out and use on campus grounds, free of charge. “There’s a variety of equipment that people are welcome to take out and use on the field,” said Carly Scarr, Langara Athletics department assistant. Lately, however, not many students are taking advantage of the equipment, she said. “Students who come to play in the gymnasium make use of the equip- ment, but in terms of [students] taking stuff outside ... not very many people do. I think it’s a combination of people not knowing and obviously the weath- Ln: students looking to soak up er. We get a lot more people coming to sign stuff out in the summer when there’s just not that many people on campus.” The department has purchased new games in recent years including ladder ball, also called “Hillbilly Golf” and bocce, the classic Italian game. In ladder ball, players throw bolas, two small balls connected by a length of rope, and wrap them around one of three rungs on a ladder stuck in the grass. In bocce, players throw heavy col- ored balls toward a small target ball and the closest wins. Scarr said staff or students in the college’s SWAP program are in the gym’s office, G004 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays to help students looking to book equipment. All students need is a Langara ID card, which the office holds as collater- al until equipment is returned. CHRIS SLATER photo Langara students Toni Li and Marinel Santiago show off equipment.