OSHAWA, Ont. – History made.
AJ Cummings' (Ajax, Ont.) baseline drive with 57 seconds to go on Monday afternoon turned out to be the game-winning basket as the Ontario Tech men's basketball team went on to defeat the Algoma Thunderbirds 67-64 to earn their program's first victory.
"It's (the win) important for these guys because they've put in so much work that is unseen," said head coach
Greg Francis. "They've been working really hard and sometimes it sucks because it's (losing games) just inexperience. In our league it's hard to win without experience, but I think they're starting to use the first half experience and we're hoping to carry that forward. We'll always be up and down because we're so new, but it's nice to get some ups because there have been many downs to start."
The game was back-and-forth for its entirety with Ontario Tech leading 34-32 at halftime, but trailing 47-45 after three quarters.
There were also three lead changes in the fourth quarter, with the Ridgebacks going ahead twice from baskets by Cummings, who dropped 12 of his team-leading 24 points in the final 10 minutes.
"This was one of those games where you're down to the last second," said Francis. "Our guys finished the game with a lot of the hard work principals we've worked on all year. They (Algoma) got away from us at times, but I'm proud our team finished the way they did for the first win in program history."
Graddy Kanku (Ottawa, Ont.), who leads Ontario Tech in scoring, dropped 21 points, while picking up a game-high four steals and two blocks. He was also one board away from his second double-double.
Continuing the trend,
Ammar Hassan earned his seventh double-double of the year, dropping 14 points and pulling in 12 rebounds.
For the Thunderbirds Nicholas Gehlen paced their scoring with 13 points.
Next weekend Ontario Tech has a tough weekend ahead as they travel to the nation's capital to face the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Overall Record: 1-16
Conference Record: 1-11
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 17 @ Carleton Ravens (8 p.m. - Ottawa, Ont.)
