MEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: McMaster topples Western in OUA West action

Friday, January 24

Laurentian 55 @ Ryerson 81

TORONTO – A solid team effort guided the No. 5 ranked Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team to a convincing 81-55 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Kadeem Green (Markham, Ont.) had a game-high 17 points in 23 minutes andJahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) added 14 in 23 minutes to help guide the Rams to victory while several bench players contributed late in the game.

Ryerson built a quick 9-0 lead to start the game and it looked like the Rams might run away with this one early, but OUA leading scorer Alex Ratte (Ottawa, Ont.) helped bring the Voyageurs back into contention. After one quarter the Rams held an 18-13 advantage.

Midway through the second quarter Ratte buried back-to-back three pointers to give the Voyageurs a 30-26 advantage but their lead didn’t last long as the Rams responded with a 9-0 run and led 40-33 at the half.

Ryerson blew the game open in the third as they got off to a 15-0 run and led 55-33 with 5:45 to go in the frame. By the end of the quarter the Rams led 65-43 and both teams started to empty their benches and give their young guys some extra minutes.

Freshman Nabil Ibrahim (Richmond Hill, Ont.) had a highlight reel dunk in the fourth quarter after guard Andy Agyepong (Toronto) shook loose from his defender which gave the Rams a 73-45 advantage.

Ibrahim finished with a career-high seven points while Agyepong had four points and three assists in 13 minutes.

Veteran Jahmal Jones spoke after the game about how important the minutes the bench played tonight to take some of the load off the starters.

“We were just trying to have fun and let the young guys play. When they’re on the court they have fun and we love to watch them play,” he said with a laugh.

Adam Voll (Kitchener, Ont.) also finished the game strong for Ryerson, picking up a transition dunk of his own and collecting a career-high nine rebounds to help the Rams close the game out for the 81-55 win.

“It was nice to see us get a couple of guys back; we’ve been pretty banged up and hurt so that’s encouraging. We have to go back and see them again in Sudbury and that’s never easy so (it was a) good win,” commented head coach Roy Rana following the game.

Both Jordon Gauthier (Windsor, Ont.) and Adika Peter-McNeilly (Scarborough, Ont.) returned to the lineup on Friday. Gauthier couldn’t find his scoring touch but picked up seven rebounds in his return while Peter-McNeilly netted seven points and added three rebounds.

Ratte finished with a team-high 13 points in the loss despite sitting for much of the second half. Ryan Bennett (Toronto) neared a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Rams improve to 12-3 on the year and remain in third place in the OUA east while Laurentian falls to 10-5 on the season.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info


 
Algoma 69 @ Toronto 76

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 76-69 on Friday, January 24 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 3-12, while the Thunderbirds drop to 4-11 on the year.
 
Fifth-year guard Alex Hill (Toronto) led all players with 32 points and eight rebounds, with Nicholas Burke and Dylan Churchill adding nine points apiece. Denis Ankrah added four points and seven boards in the win.
 
U of T started the game on an 8-0 run, but the T-Birds battled back and brought it within two late in the frame. A late three-pointer from Churchill gave Toronto a 16-10 advantage after the first.
 
Some early work from Chase Ruttenberg and a three-pointer from Matt Savel kept the Blues on pace with a rallying Algoma squad, but the Thunderbirds evened the score on a three-pointer from Terrell Campbell and the Blues led 35-32 at half.
 
The Blues rallied and extended their lead to nine early and another Churchill three gave the home team a 46-35 lead midway through the third quarter. Burke drained a three-pointer and Toronto was up 55-40 heading into the fourth.
 
Toronto held a comfortable 10-point lead in the first half of the fourth and Algoma was only able to bring the game within five as the Blues came away with their third win of the season.

Source: Toronto Sports Info


 
York 88 @ Ottawa 117

There is no better way to recover from a difficult loss than to come back with a dominant victory. The no. 2 ranked Gee-Gees did just that on Friday night as they blew out the York University Lions 117-88 to improve their record to 13-2 on the season.

uOttawa led the Lions from wire-to-wire, recording their season high for total points. The Gee-Gees stormed out of the gates in the first, scoring 35 points in the first quarter alone, and went on to shoot a lethal 19-36 from downtown and 54.2 per cent from the floor in the contest.

“We played with confidence tonight and that was important for us to be able to bounce back in this game. We talked about sending a message and think they were able to make a statement,” said head coach James Derouin. “If we were not ready for tonight’s game there is no doubt in my mind that they would have beaten us. They are a very athletic team that can hurt you if you’re not prepared. I’m
definitely proud of my guys tonight.”

Fans at Montpetit Hall witnessed another all-out team effort by the Gee-Gees as a total of six players were in double digits on the night. Ottawa’s highest scorer however was Johnny Berhanemeskel who led the squad with 22 points and two steals, which included a 12-point second frame. York’s post man Ryan Ejim led all scorers with 25 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out of the contest.

Terry Thomas also put his personal touch on the game in the third quarter as he brought down the house with a high-powered slam through traffic. Following the dunk, Thomas hit two straight shots from beyond the arc to run up the score even more.

“It’s amazing to bounce back like this.  This is an important weekend for us because we want to show that we can come back from a tough loss with some good basketball. We showed today that we can shoot the lights out when we get going and we’re able to give the fans some highlights,” said Thomas.

The Gee-Gees utilized their zone defence more than usual in this game and it proved to be effective at times - shutting down the Lions who rely heavily on their inside game to score points. “We tried to go to the zone defence a few times. They are not the best three-point shooting team so it was to our advantage to work on our zone. With that said, it still needs a lot of work and we could have been a lot better defensively,” Derouin said.

Source: uOttawa Sports Info
 


Queen’s 65 @ Carleton 104

The Carleton Ravens hit the century mark in scoring for the third time in their last four games on Friday night as they knocked off the Queen’s Gaels 104-65 at the Ravens’ Nest.

Last weekend the Ravens put up 100 points or more in wins over Ryerson and Toronto.

In last Tuesday’s Capital Hoops Classic the Ravens fell 18 points shy of the century mark putting up 82 in a win over Ottawa.

Carleton is overpowering the opposition lately and Friday night’s contest was no different as the Ravens enjoyed a comfortable 55-28 half time lead.

The Ravens third quarter was a bit anemic compared to their first, second and fourth frames of play.

Carleton put up 19 points in the third compared to 18 by Queen’s.

“We (Carleton) came out strong in the first half but not so much to start the third quarter,” said Clinton Springer-Williams.

The London, Ontario native finished the game with 17 points but was more concerned with what he thinks is Carleton’s lack of focus.

“Queen’s does a lot of things very well and we lacked concentration and focus to begin the third quarter. Lately that seems to be when teams are jumping on us.”

In the end, the Ravens made up for it in the fourth quarter outscoring the Gaels 30-19.

Philip Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.) led the Ravens attack once again with 23 points. Kevin Churchill (Toronto, ON) chipped in with 14 points and 3 rebounds. Gavin Resch (Ottawa, ON) had an 11 point game with 5 rebounds.

Source: Carleton Sports Info


 
Lakehead 78 @ Brock 68

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's basketball team (2-14 OUA West) dropped their fifth straight as they lost to the Lakehead Thunderwolves by the score of 78-68 at the Bob Davis Gymnasium Friday night.
 
Lakehead led by six after 10 minutes 18-12. Midway through the second quarter Lakehead led by five, before going on a 12-3 run to take a 35-21 lead at the half.
 
The Thunderwolves led by seven after three quarters 57-50. Early in the fourth quarter Lakehead led by nine, before the Badgers answered with a 13-4 run to tie the game 63-63 with 5:47 left in regulation. The T-Wolves answered right back closing out the final five minutes with a 15-5 run on route to the ten point road victory.
 
Leading the Badgers was senior Tshing Kasamba (St. Catharines, Ont.) who recorded 21 points going 8-for-15 from the field. Sophomore Brandon John(Toronto, Ont.), who made his return to the Brock lineup, added 15 points off the bench. Freshman Dani Elgadi (Waterloo, Ont.) pulled down 12 rebounds and a season low six points. Rounding out the Brock leaders was senior C.J. Smith (Scarborough, Ont.) and junior Nate Gardner (Ajax, Ont.) who chipped in with eight and seven points respectively.
 
Lakehead had four players in double figures led by Henry Tan who led all scorers with a game-high 23 points. Also in double figures were Dwayne Harvey (15 points, 5 reb), Joseph Nitychoruk (14 points, 7 reb) and Igor Lebov (11 points 17 reb).
 
For the game, Brock shot 42.6% (26-for-61) from the field, including 38.5% (5-for-13) from beyond the arc. The Badgers were just 11-for-19 (59.9%) from the charity stripe. Lakehead shot 45.3% (29-for-64) from the floor, 16.7% (2-for-12) from three point range and 69.2% (18-for-26) from the free throw line. Lakehead dominated the glass outrebounding Brock 46-20.

Source: Brock Sports Info
 

 
Saturday, January 25

Guelph 84 @ Laurier 81

WATERLOO, Ont. (January, 25, 2014) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's basketball team aimed to build off of a rare season sweep of the Waterloo Warriors as they hosted the Guelph Gryphons
on Saturday night. The Hawks gave up an eight point lead going into the final quarter, losing to the Gryphons 84-81.

Coming into this game after agreeing to join the Southern Peninsula Sharks of the Australian BigV Division 1 league, Max Allin of Chatham, Ont., carried the Golden Hawks with a brilliant 35 points and 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.  

Veteran guard Jamar Forde of Mississauga, Ont., put forth a solid effort, earning 13 points and seven boards in a losing effort for the Hawks.

The Gryphons received balanced offensive production, with three players earning more than ten points each and three others providing significant offensive contributions. 

Tyler Boers of Belleville, Ont., led the Gryphons in scoring with 16 points on the night.

Despite leading by eight points going into the final frame, the Hawks collapsed in the fourth quarter, conceding 23 points against while scoring just 10 of their own, allowing the Gryphons to comeback and steal the game.

The Hawks (7-9-0) will look to close the gap in the standings against Windsor (10-5-0) as they travel to take on the Lancers on Wednesday, January 29th. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
 
Source: Laurier Sports Info


 
Western 61 @ McMaster 78

For the second straight game, the McMaster men's basketball team jumped all over their opponent from the start, building a big lead and cruising to a 78-61 win over the Western Mustangs.
 
It was a solid team effort by the Marauders who led the Mustangs 20-9 after one quarter and extending the advantage to 43-21 by halftime McMaster had things working inside and outside, and held Western to 23% shooting from the floor over the first 20 minutes. Rohan Boney brought the crowd to life with a spectacular alley-oop jam in the second quarter that was one of several highlight reel plays.
 
Playing with a lead hasn't always been easy for the Marauders, but the third quarter saw them maintain their margin, while matching Western's attempt to play a more physical style in hopes of coming back. Western did pickup it's shooting in the third and behind Eric McDonald and Greg Morrow played a much better quarter. McMaster still won the quarter by a point, leaving Western facing a 23-point deficit with one quarter left.
 
Even with liberal substitutions by McMaster in the final quarter, Western could only chisel the lead down slightly and the Marauders were able to get everyone some floor time on their way to the 17-point victory.
 
Marauder Joe Rocca missed his first three-point shot of the game and did not miss again from long-range, making four of five from beyond the arc. His 15 points topped the scoring parade and saw him recognized as the BIG MAC player of the game. Both Taylor Black and Nathan McCarthy had double-double efforts on the day, with 13 points and 12 rebounds for Black, and 12 and 10 for McCarthy. Western's Eric McDonald led the Mustangs with 16.
 
McMaster dominated the glass, grabbing 48 rebounds to Western's 27.
 
The win for the Marauders was their 10th straight in OUA play and maintains their first-place position in the west division.

Next up is a traditionally tough trip to face the Lakehead Thunderwolves in Thunder Bay. The Marauders will play games at Lakehead on January 31st and February 1.

Source: McMaster Sports Info


 
Algoma 42 @ Ryerson 70

TORONTO – After a slow first half the No. 5 ranked Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team came away with a dominant 70-42 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Kadeem Green(Markham, Ont.) added 13 points in the Rams victory.

Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the first half on Saturday, combining for just 15-of-70 from the floor after twenty minutes. Ryerson scored eight of their 15 first quarter points from the free throw line and had secured a 28-19 lead at halftime.

An efficient message was sent by the Rams’ coaching staff in the locker room at the half because Ryerson came out looking like their typical selves in the third and piled up 26 third quarter points.

For the second straight night the Rams received solid contributions from their bench which helped Ryerson to double up the Thunderbirds at 64-32 with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter before finishing the game with the 70-42 victory.

After shooting just 24.2% in the first half the Rams finished the game shooting 32.9% while limiting Algoma to 20.0% for the game.

Terrell Campbell finished with a team-high 18 points for the Thunderbirds and was just one rebound shy of a double-double in the loss.

Ryerson improves their record to 13-3 on the year and remain firmly in third place in the OUA east division while Algoma falls to 4-12 and is tied for seventh.

The Rams return to the court next weekend in a critical home court double-header as they host the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info


 
Laurentian 92 @ Toronto 99

Fifth-year guard Alex Hill notched a career-high 36 points in leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team to a 99-92 overtime win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday night (Jan. 25) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
 
Hill went 12-for-21 from the floor and 8-for-11 from beyond the arc on the night. The Toronto native drained the tying basket on a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and went onto drain four three's in overtime to lead Toronto to their second straight win.
 
"I'm so elated," said Hill after the game. "We had a tough week in practice and that really set the tone for the weekend and we came out and we out worked these guys."
 
Fourth-year guard Matt Savel of Hamilton, Ont., added a career-high 18 points, while Denis Ankrah notched a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards. Dylan Churchill also drained three from beyond the arc en route to a 13-point performance.
 
With the win, the Blues are 4-12 and tied with the Algoma Thunderbirds for seventh place in the OUA East.
 
With the Blues trailing 36-32 at halftime, Laurentian built an eight-point lead (58-50) towards the end of the third quarter, but the Blues battled back with a three from Savel and a jumper from Adam Plummer to  bring it within three (60-57) heading into the fourth.
 
The Voyageurs maintained a narrow lead for the majority of the fourth and went ahead by six with four minutes to go; however, back-to-back baskets from Savel and two three's from Hill evened the score to force overtime.
 
Hill opened the extra frame with a three and rookie Nicholas Burke added four quick points to give the Blues a five-point lead. Laurentian evened it up again, but Hill responded with three consecutive three's to put the game away for good.
 
Alex Ratte led the Voyageurs with 34 points, while Tychon Carter-Newman had 27 and Josh Budd added 21 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.
 
The Varsity Blues return to action next Friday, January 31 when they host the No. 1 Carleton Ravens at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. Tip off is set for 8 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info


 
Queen’s 79 @ Ottawa 100

The story was all about Terry Thomas on Saturday night. The 6-4 forward had a monster night for uOttawa scoring 42 points and shooting 15-for-19 to lead the Gee-Gees to an easy 100-79 victory over the Queen’s Gaels. The win keeps the Gee-Gees perfect when playing at Monpetit Hall this season with a 7-0 record.

Including tonight, Thomas has averaged 19.8 points per game since joining the Gee-Gees on November 29 and has brought countless highlight reel plays to Monpetit Hall since his arrival. Thomas’s 42 points sets a new career high for the forward whose previous high was 39 points recorded at the CIS quarter-final in 2012 when he played for St. Francis-Xavier University. The point total comes just short of the Gee-Gees record for points in a game set by Warren Ward last season with 43 versus the Laurier Golden Hawks, and is only the fourth 40 point game in program history.

The game was close for most of the first half until uOttawa’s offence exploded before heading into the halftime and continued to pour on the points in the second half. The Gaels struggled to stop Ottawa from the three-point line and in transition throughout the game.  As a result, they witnessed their chances for any kind of a come from behind win vanish before the fourth quarter even started.
Sukhpreet Singh paced the Gaels offence with 17 points, with fellow guard Roshane Roberts chipping in 16. The Gaels had a rough night from the floor as a team, shooting just 38 per cent.

“Even before he [Thomas] could play for us he was battling injuries so he could not fully practice to his potential. Now that those injuries are behind him we are seeing what he can do and how dominant he can be. He was great tonight and we needed him to be because they were really loading up the defence on Johnny [Berhanemeskel],” commented Gee-Gees head coach James Derouin. “Every game is different and we liked the fact that we got the two wins at home this weekend. It’s been a long week so we will rest up for a couple days then start thinking about Ryerson.”

“I wasn’t going out tonight trying to beat any records. When a game gets intense I just try to dial in and get into a zone, just have a strong performance for my team,” said Thomas, who scored his impressive total in just 24 minutes on the floor.

Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue, Ottawa’s starting centre who has been on fire as of late, left the game in the first half with what appeared to be pain to the abdomen. The loss of Gonthier-Dubue could mean bad news for the Gee-Gees who are still without backup center Jeff Plunkett as he recovers from a sprained ankle.

uOttawa will return to the road next weekend when they travel to Toronto to take on the no. 4 ranked Ryerson Rams and Toronto Varsity Blues. The matchup marks the second time this season that uOttawa will face the Toronto based teams as they won both games at Monpetit Hall earlier this month.

Source: uOttawa Sports Info


 
York 66 @ Carleton 102

Saturday night’s game against the York Lions did not start that well for the Carleton Ravens but it sure ended on the right note.

Down 5 points to York at the 6:05 minute mark of the first quarter and ahead by just 2 points 21-19 at the end of the first quarter, the Ravens came storming back to declaw the Lions 102-66 in men’s OUA East action.

Not every game can be a masterpiece but in the end the No. 1 Ravens are still undefeated at 16-0.

“We (Carleton) started the game slow but got back to basics after that,” said Ravens forward, Tyson Hinz (Ottawa, ON) who had a 30 point night. “We have to be relentless and be the aggressor out there. We can never be complacent.”

Clinton Springer-Williams (London, ON) struck for 21, Thomas Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.) had another complete outing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Victor Raso (Hamilton, ON) had 12 points in 18 minutes of play.

Carleton will be in Toronto next weekend for games against the Varsity Blues on Friday night, January 31 followed by a Saturday evening contest versus Ryerson. Both games start at 8:00PM.
 
Source: Carleton Sports Info


 
Lakehead 99 @ Brock 57

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's basketball team (2-14 OUA West) dropped a 99-57 decision to the Lakehead Thunderwolves Saturday night at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
 
The Badgers trailed 27-17 after one quarter. In the second quarter, Lakehead put together a 23-0 run in the final seven minutes to take a commanding 58-23 lead at the half. Brock would play Lakehead almost even in the second half but it was to little to late as the Badgers dropped their sixth straight in 2014.
 
Leading the Lakehead offense was Henry Tan who led all players with 23 points including going 13-for-14 from the charity stripe. Igor Lebov was one rebound shy of a double double finishing with 17 points and nine boards. Dwayne Harvey and Joseph Nitychoruk chipped in with 13 and 12 points respectively.
 
Senior Tshing Kasamba (St. Catharines, Ont.) led the Badgers with 12 points. Freshman Dani Elgadi (Waterloo, Ont.) registered nine points and nine rebounds. Freshmen Jeremy Angelini (Hamilton, Ont.) and Ryan Flanaganboth added nine points each in the loss.
 
Brock shot 29.3% (22-for-75) from the field, 21.1% (4-for-19) from beyond the arc and 56.2% (9-for-16) from the charity stripe. The Thunderwolves finished the contest shooting 50.0% (33-for-66) from the floor including 42.9% (9-for-21) from downtown and 92.3% (24-for-26) from the free throw line.
 
The Badgers will look to get in the win column Wednesday night when they take on the Waterloo Warriors on the road.
 
Source: Brock Sports Info

 
 
Sunday, January 26

Waterloo 65 @ Windsor 75

Led by Lien Phillip's solid defensive play, the No.9 Lancer men's basketball team defeated the visiting Waterloo Warriors 75-65 on Youth Basketball Day on Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.
 
With the win, the Lancers are 11-5 on the season and in sole possession of second place in the OUA.
 
Phillip led the Lancers with a team high 17 points, and a season high 21 rebounds for the game's only double-double. Three other Lancers hit double digits with Khalid Abdel-Gabar knocking down 14 points, Enrico Diloreto contributing 13, and Rotimi Osuntola Jr. hitting 12.
 
The Warriors were led by rookie Myles Charvis with a game high 24 points.
 
Waterloo opened the game with a 10-0 run and held a 18-12 lead after the first quarter of play. Windsor chipped away at the lead and tied the game at thirty with three minutes remaining in the first half. Windsor led by four 37-33 at the break.
 
The game remained close throughout the second half, but Windsor relied on a strong 44% shooting percentage to take the double digit win.
 
The Lancers will return to the court on Wednesday night when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks at 8:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.
 
Watch the game live at www.goLancers.tv

Source: Windsor Sports Info