Gushue remains undefeated as Canada holds off BC to end second day of Brier action

The second day of the Montana’s Brier has come to a close and Cameron de Jong’s Team BC is still seeking its first win after hanging close with Team Canada, but eventually falling to the defending champions.

Draw 2

Saturday started with Pool B getting some action for the first time as Sam Mooibroek’s Team Ontario put up five points in the second end of their match against Quebec and cruised to an 11-4 win.

Team Alberta-Jacobs also had complete control of its game as Brad Jacobs skipped his rink to a 10-3 win over Team Yukon.

Nova Scotia scored deuces in the ninth and 10th ends against Team Saskatchewan-Kleiter to take the 7-2 victory while Mike McEwen’s Saskatchewan rink preserved an early lead to hold on to a 6-4 win over Prince Edward Island.

Draw 3

After defeating the home team on opening night, Reid Carruthers and Team Manitoba cruised to a 14-2 win over Newfoundland and Labrador in the second draw of the day.

Team Manitoba-Dunstone also had a smooth path to victory as the top-ranked team in the country only needed eight ends to defeat Nunavut 13-2.

While those two matches in the evening draw were heavily one-sided, the other two matches that took place were close until the end.

Team BC was up against Team Canada and found themselves down 2-0 after giving up a stolen point in the fourth end.

Cameron de Jong’s rink cut the deficit in half in the next end before Brad Gushue’s squad posted a deuce in the sixth frame.

The Victoria-based rink responded with a deuce in the seventh frame and put plenty of pressure on Team Canada, but it was the defending champions who would come out on top 5-3 and the home team is still in search of its first win.

The last game to end was Team Koe of Alberta versus John Epping’s Team Northern Ontario.

With Epping’s rink up 6-5 in the ninth end, Koe tried to squeeze the last rock through a gap, but the rock ended up falling short and Northern Ontario nabbed a single.

Team Northern Ontario then filled the house in the final frame and managed a deuce to take the 9-5 win and move to 2-0 while Team Koe fell to 0-2.