M-BASKETBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: 11th seed Golden Hawks stun Mustangs 90-82
Wednesday, February 25
Golden Hawks eliminate Mustangs in close contest at Alumni Hall
LONDON, Ont - A 34-point game by Will Coulthard helped lift the Laurier Golden Hawks over the Western Mustangs by a 90-82 score on Wednesday night at Alumni Hall. With the win the Golden Hawks advance to the OUA Quarterfinals on Saturday night against the Ryerson Rams.
In one of the most thrilling games of the year, Greg Morrow and Quinn Henderson took the top spots on the Western scoresheet with 32 and 21 points respectively. In a tough defensive contest, Morrow was able to snatch nine rebounds with teammate Anthony Spiridis grabbing six. Coulthard recorded the game high 34 points with two of his teammates marking double digits on the night as well. Kyrie Coleman's defence was one of the key factors for the Golden Hawk, grabbing 15 rebounds, 11 of which were defensive.
"I thought in the third quarter, when we got down about ten, that we're going to have to scratch and claw back," said Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell. "We got some momentum coming back into the game we just didn't make free throws and didn't make some key plays in defence."
The Mustangs captain for the past three years, Wednesday's game marked the last time Henderson would put on a Mustang jersey.
"I'm at a loss for words," said Henderson. "It has been exciting this year to watch the team grow: me being a fifth year guy and two of my best friends, Anthony Spiridis and Greg Morrow, being fourth year guys growing together and starting to become a great team and having a home playoff game. This is the first year I've ever had a home playoff game, which is exciting."
"It's not the way I wanted to end it, but it's nice to leave the program knowing that next year they can do some damage and be a really solid team."
"We let Quinn down today. I let Quinn down. He should have had a better send off to his career than losing this game after a good season," said Campbell. "He's been a hell of a player, a hell of a leader. He exemplifies what our program is about in terms of being a student-athlete, being involved in the community, and giving his all in games for us."
After giving up the first basket to the Golden Hawks, the Mustangs answered back with their star player Morrow flying over his defender with a dunk for the first two points for the team. The adrenaline was high on the court as the two teams matched each other's shots to change leads five times in the frame. Morrow's success appeared early on the scoresheet as he went 100% at the line and in field goal attempts giving him 13 of his team's points in the first quarter alone. The Mustangs were able to find their groove midway through the frame and maintained a lead to go into the second frame with a score of 28-24.
The Golden Hawks determination prevented them from falling further behind the Mustangs score. The defence on both teams glued themselves to their opposition all over the court, making it a challenge for either team to make plays in the paint. Slowly finding success, the Golden Hawks managed to loosen the hold of their defenders to sink smooth baskets from inside the paint which led them to tie the game at 38-38 with less than four minutes of play left in the half.
The game stayed tight for the remainder of the quarter, and the Golden Hawks took a 45-44 lead into the halftime break.
With both teams overall field goal success rate a little over 51% in the first half, both teams were on top of their game, and the contest looked like it would head down to the wire as the Mustangs were eager to get their first home playoff game win in a few years. The first two minutes had the audiences heads swinging back and forth on the court with the score changing leaders every basket, with neither team being able to pull ahead by more than a point. A three-pointer by Luke Allin pulled the scoreboard in the direction of the Golden Hawks, increasing their lead to four with a score of 54-50 within the first three minutes of the third frame.
As the Mustangs continued to see themselves fall further behind, a combination of positive spirits from the crowd and determination started to spark the Mustangs. Three back-to-back baskets by Henderson put the Mustangs within two points of the visitors with less than two minutes left to play in the third. The Golden Hawks were able to keep up their strong defence and take the frame with a score of 69-64 going into the final ten minutes of play.
Mustangs pride ran high across Alumni Hall as the crowd cheered on the Mustangs throughout the final frame. Despite finding himself faced with more than one defender, Morrow was able to make a fast break to make an impressive dunk around the 5:45 minute mark that put the Mustangs in the lead and had the crowd on their feet. The Golden Hawks started a full court press that had the Mustangs on their heels trying to keep up with less than four minutes to play.
The final two minutes put both teams in bonus territory, but the Mustang fouls added up and gradually added points to the Golden Hawk lead. With 24.7 seconds left the Golden Hawks heavy defence kept them in the lead, and they'd walk away with a 90-82 victory.
Source: Western Mustangs
Comeback falls short as Voyageurs end Lions season
The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) No. 8 ranked York University Lions fell to the No. 9 Laurentian Voyageurs 87-84 on Wednesday (Feb. 25) in the first round of the road to the Wilson Cup Final Four at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
After the Lions were behind by eight points for the majority of the game, in the fourth quarter they closed the gap to a one-point difference.
The fourth and final quarter was the most electrifying quarter where the Voyageurs barely pushed past the Lions.
With the start of the fourth the Lions were down 72-64. With 3:08 on the clock, Nick Tufegdzich (Tecumseh, Ont.) made a jump shot followed by two free throws, inching the score to 81-76.
Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) kept the points flowing as he chipped in a jump shot and two free throws, cutting the lead to one at 81-80.
The Voyageurs David Armolaran fought back with two free throws, widening the Voyageurs lead to three points. The effort was quickly countered by Nathan Culbreath (Kingston, Ont.) who made two free throws and Tufegdzich who slammed in a rebound, bringing the game back to a one point difference.
In the final three seconds, Ryan Bennett made a free throw and an offensive rebound led to Sam Hirst getting fouled, but also only making one out of two free throws.
The Voyageurs were able to miraculously push through the Lions in the final three seconds of the game, and moving forward in the playoffs to face the No. 1 Ottawa Gee Gees on Saturday (Feb. 28).
With the start of the game, the Lions led the first quarter, until the Voyageurs put up three consecutive three-point jumps shots, taking the lead 9-5.
The Voyageurs continued to dominate as they made a total of eight three-pointers, five of which were from powerhouse, Ryan Bennett.
The Lions put up two three-point jump shots, one jump shot and five free throws in the first to rack up 13 points.
Bennett demonstrated why he is ranked fourth in Ontario and tenth in Canada in three-point makes as he led the Voyaguers with 18 points in the first quarter and a 31-13 lead.
The Lions caught up in the second quarter as they closed the 18-point gap to a 12. Tufegdzich flaunted his height with outstanding hops to steal, block and rebound the ball as he racked six points for the Lions in the second. Gene Spagnuolo (Maple, Ont.), Culbreath, O'Neil Halstead (Toronto), Iheadindu and Yonathan Kristos (Woodbridge, Ont.) also added points to the scoreboard for the Lions. The Lions outscored their opponents in the second scoring 23 points compared to the Voyageurs 17 points.
The Voyageurs Armolaran also demonstrated his skill as he made two three-point jump shots and one jump shot consecutively. At the end of the half the score was 48-36, with the Lions closely behind the Voyageurs.
The Lions gnawed at the tails of the Voyageurs in the third as they closed the twelve-point gap to eight by the end of the quarter.
Tufegdzich added nine points to the scoreboard from two rebounds and three free throws, while both Culbreath and Iheadindu added seven points, each with one three-point jump shot, one jump shot and two free throws.
Source: York Lions
Lancers defeat Toronto; advance to quarter-finals
Windsor, ON – The Lancer men's basketball team earned an 85-71 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs on Wednesday night at the St. Denis Centre.
With the win, the No.5 ranked Lancers advance to the OUA quarter-finals on Saturday against the No.4 ranked McMaster Marauders in Hamilton. Game time is scheduled for 3:00pm and can be seen live on oua.tv.
The Lancers were led once again by Rotimi Osuntola Jr. who came off the bench with a game high 22 points and 18 rebounds. Fifth year guard Evan Matthews contributed 15 points and 7 rebounds in the victory, while Khalid Abdel-Gabar had 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Toronto had four players in double digits including Devin Johnson who had a team high 18 points. Julian Clarke contributed 16 points in the effort, while Manny Sahota had 15 and Denis Ankrah had 10 points.
The Varsity Blues opened the game strong and led the Blue & Gold 17-15 after the first quarter of play. Windsor rebounded in the second but the twelfth seeded Blues held tight and the Lancers only led by four, 35-31, at the half.
In the second half Windsor extended their lead to ten heading into the fourth quarter en route to the victory.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Lakehead men's hoops advance to quarter-finals
The men's basketball team took care of business on Wednesday evening, winning 69-48 over the Guelph Gryphons to advance to the next round of the OUA playoffs.
The leadership of the team's two graduating seniors, Dwayne Harvey and Anthony McIntosh shone through, as both 5th year seniors scored 14 points, with McIntosh grabbing 9 rebounds, and Harvey snatching 7 boards off the glass while dishing out 8 assists.
The 'Wolves victory was far from assured after the first half, as Lakehead led 28-20 at the break. It was evident that the teams' previous two meetings in recent days had familiarized one another with their defensive and offensive systems, leading to more or less of a stalemate early on.
It was Harvey and McIntosh combining for a high screen and roll that really cleaved into Guelph's defense, repeatedly, and the Gryphons couldn't stop to 2-man game without opening up Lakehead's perimeter shooters who dropped in a three or two for good measure down the stretch.
One such shooter was Jamar Coke, who finished with a impressive 12 points and 12 rebounds. Mor Menashe score 12 as well, and Bacarius Dinkins scored 10 on 5-of-7 shooting.
For the Gryphons, Adam Kemp had a solid game, going 7-for-12 for 14 points.
Lakehead really made the Gryphons pay on the glass, out-rebounding them 45-21.
Coach Manny Furtado:
"I'm really happy for our guys tonight. They've competed and played hard all year and tonight was no different. We stuck to the game plan and executed down the stretch."
Lakehead advances to the next round of the playoffs, and will play the Carleton Ravens on Saturday at 8:00pm.
Webcast coverage will be available via OUA TV.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves