The Tribune

ROOSEVELT Whylly and the Holland College Hurricanes men’s basketball programme remain nationally ranked into the winter holiday break.

The Hurricanes are ranked No.6 in the latest edition of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association top 15 poll.

The Hurricanes are 6-1 and have been particularly dominant in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA), scoring an average of 112 points per game and outscoring their opponents by over 44 points per game in their wins.

Fellow Bahamians Greg Munroe and Eleazer Goodman are also members of the Hurricanes roster, in their first year with the programme.

In their most recent game, the Hurricanes topped the St Thomas Tommies in their most dominant performance of the season - a 125-61 win. Whylly equalled his season high with 25 points and seven rebounds.

In his most efficient game of the season, he shot 10-14 from the field. Munroe added eight points off the bench in just seven minutes.

Holland jumped out to a 33-16 lead after one quarter and would take a 64-31 lead into the half-time break. They continued to build on their lead and were up 98-40 after three quarters en route to the win.

The 125 points are the second highest ever scored by a Hurricanes men’s basketball team in a single game.

Whylly, averaging 15 points and seven rebounds per game this season, began the year with just six points and 11 rebounds against MVSU.

He followed with 17 points and seven rebounds against UKC, 11 points against UNBSJ and his only double double – 25 points and 10 rebounds - against Mount Allison.

The Hurricanes began the season ranked at No.3 but fell to No. 6 after a they suffered the one loss on their record, 108-103 to Crandall. Whylly scored just five in the upset.

In his third year with the programme, he has been named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year for the past two seasons.

Munroe has appeared in five games this season and is averaging 3.6 and two rebounds per game. Goodman has appeared in just two games thus far and scored a season high four against Dalhousie. They return to the court in 2018 when they travel to Fredericton to face the Tommies again on January 7.

The Hurricanes look to make another run at the CCAA national championship title after they have fallen short at the end of deep tournament runs the past two seasons.

Last year they defeated the SAIT Trojans 113-103, and advanced to the semi-final led by Whylly’s 24 points and 12 rebounds. They were eliminated 93-81 by Sheridan Bruins.

In 2016, Whylly helped lead the Hurricanes to a bronze-medal finish in the National Tournament and was named to the All-Tournament First Team. The CCAA is the national governing body for organised sports at colleges in Canada. It was formed in 1974. The CCAA hosts 10 annual national championships.

Its equivalent body for governing sports at universities is U Sport. Some institutions are members of both bodies for different sports.