M-BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Gee-Gees, Ravens, Rams all move to 6-0
WATERLOO, Ont. - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s basketball team was no match for the No. 1 Carleton Ravens on Friday night as they lost 91-50 at the Athletic Complex.
Photo by Emma Ewing-Nagy
Friday, Nov. 21
Carleton 91 @ Laurier 50
WATERLOO, Ont. - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's basketball team was no match for the No. 1 Carleton Ravens on Friday night as they lost 91-50 at the Athletic Complex.
Riding a three-game winning streak coming into the game, Laurier had momentum on their side but failed to start quickly, scoring just 15 points in the opening half. Led by Thomas Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., Carleton scored 47 points of their own to take a 32-point lead into halftime.
In the second half, Laurier's offence found their groove as they managed to post a respectable 35-second half points. However, the Carleton advantage was just too much as they came away with the victory.
Scrubb was a force for the Ravens as the fifth year forward finished the game 12-for-19 from the field for 26 points. He also chipped in seven assists and six rebounds.
For Laurier, it was the Coulthard brothers, Will and Owen, of Oakville, Ont., who lead the Hawks offence. Both players finished the night with 12 points, with Owen scoring 12 in just 12 minutes on the floor.
Ottawa 89 @ Waterloo 48
The Ottawa Gee-Gees came to town ready to run, jump and score. All-Canadian Johnny Berhanemeskel hit an opening three and Myles Charvis (Mississauga) responded with a field goal. Then Ottawa scored the next 21 points on their way to a 33-6 score after the first quarter.
Ottawa shot 65% from the field, hit 7 of 11 from the three point line, out-rebounded the Warriors 14-3 and kept Waterloo to just 18% shooting. With the final result no longer in doubt, the teams played out the game to an 89-48 win for Ottawa.
After the sizzling first quarter, Ottawa did cool off in the second, but Waterloo was still not able to connect. At half time the score was 47-13 and Waterloo was just 1 of 19 from the three point line and out-rebounded 31-9.
Charvis was doing much of the scoring in the third, hitting 15 points in the quarter as Waterloo managed to out-score Ottawa 22-19 in the third. Ottawa continued their relentless play and came back again in the fourth to win by over 40 points.
Charvis was the only Warrior in double figures with 21 points. Next was Ali Validipak (Richmond Hill) with 7 points. Top rebounder for the Warriors was Ben Davis (Mississauga)with 5 rebounds. In looking for positive notes, the Warriors only turned the ball over 7 times.
Caleb Agada led Ottawa with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Other double figure scorers for Ottawa included Johnny Berhanemeskel with 15 and Vikas Gill and Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue with 11 each.
Ottawa is ranked #2 in the country and has a 5-0 record early in the OUA season. Waterloo drops to 1-4 and sits in fourth place in the OUA West.
Western 68 @ Algoma 55
The Mustangs jumped out to an early lead 6-0. Algoma came back strong pulling ahead 9-8. The teams kept it close going point for point but a late shot by Western gave them the lead 19-14 going into the second. Western continued to widen the gap 27-18. Both teams tightened their defense and struggled to put up points in the second. After a timeout, Algoma regrouped and applied a full court press to close the gap 34-30. With added aggression, Western pulled ahead to lead by 9 going into the second half. After a slow start by both teams, the Mustangs continued to drive the ball to the post, maintaining a 10-point gap. The momentum continued into the final quarter but the Thunderbirds clawed their way back down by only two with five minutes left. Western continued to drive ahead, winning 68-55.
Algoma shot 29 percent from the field. Sean Clendinning led the Thunderbirds with 17 points. Western improved to 3-2 and the Thunderbirds dipped to 0-4.
Nipissing 59 @ Toronto 72
Third-year forward Devin Johnson notched 23 points and 11 rebounds in leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team to a 72-59 win over the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night (Nov. 21) in their grand opening event at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
With the win, the Blues improve to 2-3 and remain in third place in the OUA East division, while the Lakers drop to 0-3 and sit fourth in the North.
Johnson was 9-for-23 from the floor, including three three pointers and added two steals on the night. Fellow third-year forward Denis Ankrah notched 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Dylan Churhill added nine points and Julian Clarke had eight points in the win.
Nipissing got out to an early 5-0 lead but the Blues responded with a 10-0 streak of their own. The two teams traded points and a three-pointer from Marcus Lewis gave Nipissing a 16-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The game went back and forth in the second quarter and the Lakers took a narrow 30-29 lead at the midway point of the game.
Ankrah and Johnson combined for 19 points as the Blues took the lead and widened the gap for good with a 28-point third quarter.
Lewis, along with Jordan Campbell, led the Lakers with 14 points each, with Campbell adding a team-high 10 boards in the loss.
Queen's 56 @ Guelph 63
Guelph, Ont. – Thanks to a second half comeback the Gryphon men's basketball team was able to beat the visiting Queen's Gaels 63-56 on Friday, November 21st at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Centre.
The first quarter saw the Gaels take a small lead, with Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, ON) hitting the first 14 points of the team's 20 in the quarter. At the end of the quarter the Gryphons trailed 20-15. The second half saw the Gaels increase their lead. The Gryphons were held to only 8-38 shooting in the half for 21%, while the Gaels shot 50% in the half amounting to a 42-25 lead going into the second half.
The Gryphons mounted their comeback in the third quarter only allowing seven points. Guelph went on a 17-7 run in the quarter lead by Adam Kemp (Toronto, ON) and Jack Beatty (Woodstock, ON). The last quarter did not disappoint. The Gryphons started the quarter on a 13-2 run to take the lead 55-49. Three pointers by Beatty and Daniel Dooley (Burlington, ON) pushed the Gryphons into the lead. Guelph would hold onto the lead and win the game 63-56 to set their record to 2-3 while the Gaels fall to 0-4 on the OUA season.
The Gryphons will be back in action at the Laurentian University on November 28th, 2014 as they attempt to increase their record to the .500 mark.
Saturday, Nov. 22
York 62 @ McMaster 97
The McMaster men's basketball team put forth a dominating effort and ran away from the York Lions by a score of 97-62 on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton.
Behind some very solid interior scoring from Leon Alexander and Taylor Black, McMaster jumped out to an early lead on the Lions. York's Nick Tufegdzich and Nathan Culbreath did their best to keep York close, but at the end of the opening period McMaster held a 22-17 lead.
The second quarter was all maroon, as McMaster exploded for 30 points while holding York to 16. Normally a deadly shooter, Marauder Joe Rocca turned into a playmaker, dropping two nifty dimes to Black who finished with slam dunks. Along with the offense, the Marauders defended hard and controlled the boards, en route to holding the 52-33 advantage at intermission. Black and Alexander were a combined 13 of 15 from the floor in the first-half.
Heading into the third quarter with a big lead always creates fear of a letdown, but the men in maroon actually held York to its lowest scoring quarter, as the Lions could only score 14 points. McMaster kept on the pressure at both ends and held a 75-47 lead by the end of the third.
With the game in hand, Marauder Coach Amos Connolly went to the bench liberally in the final quarter and 11 of 12 players hit the scoresheet. McMaster played hard to the final buzzer and won the fourth quarter to complete the 35-point victory.
Top shooter was Black, who registered a double-double with 20 and 12 boards. Alexander finished with 15; Adam Presutti had 13, followed by Rocca and Trevon McNeil who each scored 11. York got 19 from Tufegdzich to lead the way.
McMaster crushed York on the boards by 52-28, while shooting 52% from the floor compared to the Lions' 33%. In a complete team effort, the Marauders registered 25 assists on 38 made field-goals, displaying terrific ball movement.
The win was the 100th career victory for Coach Connolly, who assumed the McMaster mantle in 2010.
Windsor 85 @ Lakehead 76
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Nipissing 51 @ Ryerson 103
TORONTO – The No. 3 Ryerson Rams men's basketball team eclipsed the century mark for the first time this season, recording a 103-51 blowout victory over the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night.
BOXSCORE
Six different players reached double digits for the Rams, led by 21 points fromAaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) who treated the home fans to another set of highlight reel dunks. Big man Kadeem Green (Richmond Hill, Ont.) netted 16 points and collected seven rebounds.
The Rams offence shot 15-of-34 from beyond the arc, setting a new record for most three-pointers made in one game. Best had four of those three balls, whileAdika Peter-McNeilly (Scarborough, Ont.) added three from long distance.
Ryerson held a 26-17 lead through the first ten minutes of play and then turned up their defensive pressure in the second, limiting the Lakers to just nine points in the frame to take a commanding 47-26 lead into halftime.
The Rams extended their lead to 76-39 through three quarters and approached the 100-point mark in the fourth. Charles Boampong's (Toronto) only points of the night pushed the Rams into triple digits for the first time in a regular season game since February 11, 2012 before the Rams closed out the scoring at 103-51.
Aaron Best spoke about the fun the team has been having so far this season and producing the highlight reel plays.
"Honestly, it's one of the reasons why you play basketball in the first place. There's nothing like getting the team hyped and getting them excited. That two points from the dunk can lead to eight to ten more...it brings our energy level up and that's why I love basketball so much, for moments like that."
Other players in double digits for the Rams included Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) with 13, Jordon Gauthier (Windsor, Ont.) with 12, and JV Mukama (Hamilton, Ont.) and Peter-McNeilly with 11 each.
Nipissing's Marcus Lewis had a team-high 18 points in the loss.
Carleton 99 @ Waterloo 36
The winner of the last four CIS championships and current CIS #1 ranked Carleton Ravens visited the PAC on Saturday night and showed the Waterloo team and fans some excellent basketball. Unfortunately, they did so at the expense of the Warriors.
From the opening tip, the Ravens scored the first 13 points and held Waterloo scoreless for 7:16 of the opening period. Carleton opened up with a 34-2 lead before Waterloo went on their only mini-run of the night. When the game was over Carleton had a 99-36 win.
This game was all-Carleton as they out-shot the Warriors 55% to 27%, out-rebounded the Warriors 50-16 and had five players in double figures to none for Waterloo.
With nine Carleton players getting at least 15 minutes of playing time each, the leading scorers were Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles with 16 points and Connor Wood with 14.
Bradley Spera (Hamilton) had plenty of minutes for Waterloo as Myles Charvis (Mississauga) found himself in foul trouble. Spera responded with a 7 point night, hitting the team high along with Jaspreet Gill (Oliver) and Charvis.
With the loss Waterloo drops to 1-5 on the season. Carleton has a 6-0 record and continues to be ranked #1 in the nation.
Queen's 89 @ Brock 98 (OT)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont - The Brock University men's basketball team (2-3 OUA) defeated the Queens Gaels (0-5 OUA) in overtime by the score of 98-89 Saturday night at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The Badgers led 26-14 after one quarter and 48-32 at the half, highlighted by a 19-2 run to go up by as many as 22 points. The Gaels struggled to get anything going offensively, but cut the Brock lead to 16 at the half.
Brock led by 18 after three quarters, 71-53.
It wasn't until the fourth frame that Queen's started to mount a comeback. The Gaels outscored Brock 17-0 in the opening five minutes of the final quarter trailing by one 71-70 with 4:34 left. Brock would go up 79-75, after a Zachary Angelini three-pointer, but it was the Gaels knocking down two clutch free throws and a jumper tying the game 79-79, sending it to overtime.
In overtime, Queen's answered first to go up 81-79. The Badgers then put together a 10-2 run, leading 89-83 with just over two minutes left. Brock would knock down some clutch free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.
Brock's offense was led by rookie Johneil Simpson who collected a season-high 33 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double. Zach Angelini recorded 20 points and seven rebounds, while Matt Marshall added 11 points and six boards. Rounding out the Badgers leading scorers were AJ Manguerra and Yusuf Ali tallying nine and seven points respectively.
Leading the Gaels offense was Greg Faulkner who registered a game-high 40 points, and adding 13 boards in the loss.
Brock shot 32-for-69 (46.4%) from the field, while going 11-for-24 (45.8%) from three point range and 79.3% (23-for-29) from the free-throw line. Queens went 33-for-80 (41.3%) from the floor, 8-for-26 (30.8%) from beyond the arc and 15-for-21 (71.4%) from the charity stripe.
Ottawa 113 @ Laurier 95
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's basketball team wore their no-quit attitude on their purple and gold sleeves throughout the 113-95 loss to the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday night.
Accurate shooting from the Hawks combined with the missed shots of the Gee-Gees resulted in Laurier holding the lead over the defending CIS silver-medalists throughout most of the first quarter. The strong Laurier showing early in the game was captivating following the 91-50 Carleton victory over the Hawks the previous night.
Whatever it was that Coach Campbell had said to the Hawks after the Ravens game seemed to be working; however, Laurier still trailed 23-21 after one quarter of play.
While the threat of fifth year guard Johnny Berhanemeskel (Ottawa) became apparent with the scoring and ball control he displayed for the Gee-Gees in the first half, fifth year forward Kyrie Coleman (Washington D.C.) used all 6-7 of his height for the Hawks' advantage to keep them in the game.
By half the two teams had battled back-and-forth for a narrow 45-40 lead for the Gee-Gees. Berhanemeskel had already earned double-digits and was sitting at 13 points and three rebounds on the night, and Coleman was leading the Hawks with 10 points.
The third quarter is where the Hawks let their grip slip and the Gee-Gees picked up their pace. Gee-Gees centre Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue (Gatineau, Que.) found his stride in the second half and assisted in outscoring the Hawks 36-26 in the third quarter.
But even late in the contest and Ottawa with a now 15-point lead, the Hawks were not going to walk away without a fight. So while the Gee-Gees gained another 32 points in the final quarter, the Hawks put up an additional 29 with an extra offensive push from senior guard Will Coulthard (Oakville, Ont.) and Garrison Thomas (Burlington, Ont.) to close the game 113-95.
In the end six Golden Hawks earned double-digits in the team effort. Garrison Thomas led the way for the Hawks with 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds, Will Coulthard and Aiddian Walters (Vaughn, Ont.) notched 16 points each, Jack Simmons (Cambridge, Ont.) added 11 points, and Matthew Chesson (Whitby, Ont.) and Kyrie Colemanput up 10 each.
For Thomas, the 17 points and five assists were both single-game career highs for the third year forward.
Berhanemeskel headlined the game for the Gee-Gees with 34 total points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Gonthier-Dubue finished the game with 20 points and three assists.
The combined 208 points by the two teams represents the third most in a single game in which the Golden Hawks have been involved in. The highest single-game combined point total is 211 which came back in 1989, a 107-104 Laurier victory over Windsor.
Western 87 @ Algoma 56
The teams exchanged baskets early in the first. A failed layup and a charge call on Algoma's Wais Mohamed tipped the game in favour of Western, giving them a five-point advantage. Western widened the gap to eight, only for both teams to fall silent down the stretch. Samy Mohamed's three-pointer at the buzzer allowed the Thunderbirds to get within two of the Mustangs going into the second. A quieter start to the second quarter saw both teams struggle to put up points and Western's Neil Henderson picked up a technical foul. Going into the second half, Algoma trailed 37-28. The Mustangs continued to drive ahead, widening the gap to by 20 halfway through the third. The Thunderbirds' Adam Benrabah came into his game late in the third and chipped into the deficit but five personal fouls benched him with two minutes left. Western pulled ahead by 30 going into the final quarter. Western's momentum continued, and they won their second game of the weekend, 87-56.
Western improved to 4-2 and the Thunderbirds dipped to 0-5. Benrabah led the Thunderbirds with 14 points and 4 rebounds. Gregory Morrow of the Mustangs earned an impressive 28.
Laurentian 67 @ Toronto 64
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team dropped a 67-64 decision to the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday, November 22 at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
With the loss, the Blues drop to 2-4 and remain tied with York (2-3) for second place in the OUA East.
Third-year forward Manny Sahota led the Blues with 13 points, while Devin Johnson had a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards. Denis Ankrah notched 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals, with Julian Clarke and Chase Ruttanberg adding nine points each in the loss.
Toronto got out to an early 7-0 lead but Laurentian went on a 10-2 streak and the two teams traded baskets from there. The Voyageurs held a narrow 20-19 advantage after the first quarter.
U of T and Laurentian continued the back and forth battle through the second frame, and the Blues held a 36-32 lead at halftime.
The Voyageurs battled back and brought the game within one (44-43) midway through the third quarter. The Blues managed to build a 55-48 lead, but six straight points from Laurentian gave the visiting team a 56-55 advantage heading into the final frame.
Laurentian regained the lead and a couple of free throws from Sam Hirst gave the Voyageurs a five-point cushion (66-61) in the dying minutes. Toronto was able to bring the game within on possession, but was unable to complete the comeback.
Tychon Carter-Newman led all players with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryan Bennett had 15 points and Hirst added 10 in the win.
Sunday, Nov. 23
Laurentian 65 @ Ryerson 84
TORONTO – The No. 3 Ryerson Rams men's basketball team improved to 6-0 with an 84-65 win over the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs on Sunday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Laurentian would push Ryerson in the first 23 minutes of the game and held a 48-45 lead early in the third quarter. The Rams would take over from there, outscoring the Voyageurs 39-17 the rest of the way.
Fifth-year point guard Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) led the way offensively for Ryerson, scoring a game-high 34 points, just one shy of his career high. Adika Peter-McNeilly (Scarborough, Ont.) and Juwon Grannum (Mississauga, Ont.) each had 10 points for Ryerson, while Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Ryerson's Jordon Gauthier joined elite company after recording six rebounds in Sunday's victory. The fifth-year guard is just the fourth Rams player all-time to eclipse both the 500 rebound and 1,000 point plateaus in his career.
Ryan Bennett (Toronto) had the hot hand for the Voyageurs and was a big reason his team was able to stay close for more than half the game. The third-year guard had a team-high 31 points while shooting 6-of-13 from behind the arc. He also picked up a team-high seven boards. Sam Hirst (Collingwood, Ont.) added 15 points for Laurentian.
The Rams will close out the first half of the regular season with a huge test next weekend when they visit the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees (6-0) and the No. 1 Carleton Ravens (6-0).