AROUND OUA: No. 4 Badgers down Varsity Blues 77-71
TORONTO, ON - The No. 4 ranked Brock men's basketball team escaped Toronto with a 77-71 come from behind victory to defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Goldring Centre Friday night.
SCOREBOARD
No. 4 Badgers down Varsity Blues 77-71
TORONTO, ON - The No. 4 ranked Brock men's basketball team escaped Toronto with a 77-71 come from behind victory to defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Goldring Centre Friday night.
The Badgers trailed 19-14 after one quarter and were tied 35-35 at the half.
The Varsity Blues held a one point lead after three quarters 57-56.
In the final quarter, with the game tied 63-63, Brock would put together their first run of the game to take a 74-68 lead late in the contest. The Badgers closed out the game knocking down 3 of 4 from the charity stripe for their 23rd victory of the season.
The Badgers had a balanced offense led by Johneil Simpson (Toronto, ON) who recorded 22 points and five rebounds. Dani Elgadi (Waterloo, ON) added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double while Ryan Bennett (Toronto, ON) (11pts 8 reb), Matt Marshall (Burlington, ON) (9 pts, 7 reb) and Zachary Angelini (Hamilton, ON) (9 pts, 3-5 3PT) rounded out the Brock leaders.
Brock shot 41.8% (28-for-67) from the field, 8-for-21 (38.1%) from beyond the arc and 13-for-21 (61.9%) from the free throw line. The Varsity Blues went 28-for-74 (37.8%) from the floor, just 4-for-23 (17.4%) from downtown and 11-for-17 (64.7 %) from the charity stripe.
The Badgers return to action next weekend when they host the No. 3 Carleton Ravens (Feb. 12 - 8pm) and No. 2 Ottawa Gee Gees (Feb. 13 - 8pm) at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
Source: Brock Badgers
Thunderbirds Blow Past Waterloo in Shoot for the Cure Game
In their annual Shoot for the Cure event, the Algoma Thunderbirds men's basketball team earned their second win of the season, blowing past the Waterloo Warriors 96-68.
In their pink uniforms, the Algoma Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 14-7 lead against the Waterloo Warriors. The black and gold battled back to even the game at 16. Waterloo edged ahead by one point before both teams went cold for over a minute. Andre Barber's long three returned the lead back in favour of the home squad, 20-18, going into the second quarter. In the second, the teams changed baskets to the bitter end with Algoma edging ahead 38-36 to open the second half.
Algoma opened the third with a 22-3 point run to pull away from the Warriors, 60-39. Algoma controlled the defensive and offensive glass. Waterloo struggled to keep pace, turning over the ball. Algoma continued to cruise, widening the gap to 22 points. Jacob Clendinning went hot hitting back to back threes. Waterloo's bench boss earned a technical, allowing brother Sean Clendinning to bleed Waterloo further. The black and gold earned another technical but Sean Clendinning failed to drain the shot from the charity stripe. Algoma went into the final 10 minutes with a comfortable 26-point lead. Algoma shot an impressive 58 percent from the arc in the third. The Thunderbirds opened the fourth with another 9-point run, giving Algoma a 31-point lead. Waterloo chipped into the deficit while Algoma went cold for 4 minutes. Eric Thompson went 2-2 from the charity stripe breaking Algoma's cold snap. The Thunderbirds continued to pull away, running past the Warriors 96-68.
Sean Clendinning led the Tbirds with 23 points. Andre Barber, Jacob Clendinning, and Brett Zufelt also had double digits in the win. Algoma shot 48 percent from the field. Dylan Phillips led Waterloo with 16 points.
This is the third consecutive win for the Thunderbirds in their annual Shoot for the Cure event.
Algoma improves to 2-11 while Waterloo falls to 1-13 in the OUA West.
Gate proceeds from tonight's games were donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. At half-time, alumna Kathleen Hodgson and Asha Leahy cut and donated their hair to Locks of Love. The haircuts were generously donated by Casey Barry of The Hair Emporium. The Thunderbirds raised just under $1,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Waterloo returns to the GLC tomorrow evening for redemption. The Thunderbirds tipoff at 8:00pm.
Source: Algoma Thunderbirds
Western earns third straight win with 75-43 victory over Nipissing
LONDON, Ont – Outscoring the Nipissing Lakers 26-8 in the first ten minutes, the Western Mustangs established a lead they wouldn't relinquish on their way to a 75-43 win on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
"Defensively we were solid, we got off to a really good start," said Western head coach Brad Campbell. "Some defensive intensity and energy really helped our offence, especially in the first half. Pete [Scholtes] did a nice job denying some of their big guys that try to go inside and keeping us out of rotation. Greg was a monster tonight. He did it all, scored in various ways and was outstanding."
"I thought we really played well as a team," said Greg Morrow, who led all players with 34 points. "Lately we've been playing well on defence, coming out with a lot of aggression and forcing the other team to make turnovers."
Morrow's game-leading scoring efforts came off of 15-for-21 shooting with another four points coming from the free throw line. Alex Coote followed with 11 points, while Anthony Spiridis contributed 10 points in the victory. Peter Scholtes led the team on the glass with six rebounds and Morrow followed with five of his own, showing again that he's a force to beat all around the court.
Marcus Lewis led the Lakers with 17 points, seven of which were scored the third frame. Michael Angenent and Jordan Roberts recorded six points each for the Lakers. Lewis was a versatile player around the court, also grabbing an impressive 12 rebounds in Friday's contest to record a double-double.
The Mustangs kicked off the game on a high note, going on a 13-0 run to start the game, giving them a lead they would maintain throughout the contest. Morrow, who's game-opening dunk started a roar in the crowd, contributed 14 points in the opening frame and two steals to help Western go up 26-8 after one.
Western's defence established itself as one of the team's strong suits on Friday, grabbing rebounds to limit the Lakers second chance points, and pressing Nipissing's shooters to use the entire shot clock to look for scoring opportunities. Limiting the Lakers offence to only nine points in the frame, the Mustangs took a 45-17 lead into halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half, with the Mustangs defence staying strong and keeping the home side in the lead. The Lakers did find increased success in the second half, including outscoring Western 19-14 in the third quarter, however Western continued to control the game and walked away with a 75-43 win.
"Tomorrow is a new challenge" said Campbell in regards to Saturday's contest against Laurentian. "We want to stay confident and hopefully this game gives us some confidence. Tomorrow we've got to get back to work and make sure all those details are prepared. Hopefully in a back-to-back scenario we come out with the same energy we did to start the last game and have that attention to detail."
"We got to try to keep attacking and never let up" said Morrow. "There were a couple moments in this game where we eased off a little and saw Nipissing make some runs, we want to avoid that."
The Mustangs prepare for the latter half of their back-to-back weekend against the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday, February 6 at Alumni Hall. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.
Source: Western Mustangs
Gaels use explosive first quarter to get past Gryphons
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 5, 2015) - The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team used a dominant first quarter to build an early lead, and weathered a second-half comeback bid to defeat the Guelph Gryphons 93-81 on Friday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC).
Sukhpreet Singh picked up a game-high 24 points, while Ryall Stroud added 17 points and nine rebounds in the win for Queen's. Tanner Graham also picked up 17 points and seven rebounds for the Gaels, while Ahmed Haroon tallied 17 in a losing cause for the Gryphons.
The Gaels (8-5) maintain their second-place standing in the OUA East, while Guelph (5-7) remain fourth in the Central division.
GAME FLOW
Led by the veterans Singh and Graham, the men used a potent opening quarter where they shot an astounding 76.2% to drop 36 points in the first 10 minutes of the contest. After both squads exchanged baskets early on and battled to a 14-14 score, the hosts took over in the middle portion of the quarter, using just over three minutes of game-time to score 18 points in a row before the Gryphons could finally stop the run with two minutes left in the first.
Singh picked up a big dunk off a Gryphons turnover to spark the run, and Graham drained a couple of deep three's to keep the Gaels tide moving. Graham (Kingston) would end with 13 points in the quarter, while Singh (Toronto) picked up seven.
The Gaels stayed hot early in the second, as Andrew Mavety (Vancouver, B.C.) drained two three-pointers to for Queen's. The hosts would finally cool off in the middle of the second, and a 9-0 run from the visitors brought the lead down to 15. The hosts regained their stride, however, finishing the half on an 8-2 run to take a 54-33 lead into the locker rooms.
The Gryphons refused to go away in the third quarter, twice bringing the Gaels lead down to 11 points. On both occasions, Singh responded for Queen's, first with a lay-up, and second with a three that helped the men maintain some breathing room.
But the Gryphons persevered, shooting a formidable 55.6% in the period and, with 1:07 left in the third, Taylor Boers drove to the basket and picked up a lay-in, bringing the Queen's lead down to single digits for the first time since there was 3:30 left in the first quarter.
Another tough lay-up by Boers brought his team within seven to open the final period of play. After the Gryphons were able to bring the lead down to five, however, Queen's seemed to re-find its footing in the final period, going on an impressive 11-0 run that saw Stroud do some excellent work in the post, dropping two straight buckets and then hitting two free-throws on his next possession. The Toronto native picked up seven of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Gaels put the lead out of Guelph's reach and snap their two-game losing streak.
FINAL SAY
"You know the likelihood of keeping those offensive numbers going is small, you know it's unrealistic that your team is going to continue to shoot 75% from the field," said Head Coach Stephan Barrie. "So you address all the things that are not being done the way that they need to be done, even if you're getting away with it. So when the other team makes its run, and they will, then you are ready to withstand it. So we did that, and I think what we did well late was get the ball back inside to Ryall, and that settled things as it often does. Ryall was solid tonight and I think that got us back in control of the game."
BY THE NUMBERS
93- The Gaels scored a season-high 93 points on Friday against the Gryphons
50.7%- It was the third time this season that the Gaels shot 50% or higher
36- Queen's tallied a season-best 36 field goals on Friday night
UP NEXT
Queen's returns to the ARC on Saturday evening looking for their second win in a row when they host the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Game-time is set for approximately 8:00 p.m.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Lions come up short against Thunderwolves
The York University Lions men's basketball squad came up short on Friday night (Feb. 5) as they lost by a score of 78-63 to the Lakehead Thunderwolves at the Tait Mackenzie Centre.
The Lions had a team first mentality throughout the game, as they patiently found the open man with well executed ball movement. The offensive efficiency was led by starting point guard Shane Reader (Toronto) who finished with a game high six assists.
The action in the first half was back and forth between the Lion and Wolves, ending with Lakehead up by a 36-34 score at half time. The Lions received an offensive boost throughout the game from Gene Spagnuolo (Maple, Ont.) who came off of the bench and made an instant impact totalling a game high 19 points.
The Thunderwolves big man and reigning CIS male athlete of the week Bacarius Dinkins owned the paint on Friday evening, as he muscled his way down low for 14 points and 10 rebounds, five of which were offensive.
The second half was much of the same story as the first, but rather than control post play the Thunderwolves stretched the floor, and found their range from three point land extending their lead to 12. The Thunderwolves shot 34 total three pointers and knocked down 11 in the win.
The Lions Nathan Culbreath (Kingston, Ont.) was once again a dominate scoring threat as he finished with 17 points and four boards in the loss.
The Lions now sport a 3-10 record and will look to take down the 5-7 Guelph Gryphons at home on Saturday (Feb. 6), tip off is 8pm.
Source: York Lions
Best soars in win over Laurier
TORONTO – Aaron Best was at his peak on Friday night as he dropped 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 105-82 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks at Coca-Cola Court on Friday night.
BOXSCORE
Best started the game on fire with a personal 8-0 run to give the Rams an early jump from tipoff and also put the team on his back as the energy dropped coming out of halftime.
"I just wanted to stay aggressive and I think it worked to our advantage. It's a game of runs right, they're going to run at us and we had to make runs at them. You've got to absorb it and fight back and I think we did a good job of that tonight," said Best on his and the team's efforts on countering Golden Hawk spurts of scoring.
"The guys didn't come out with the fire and intensity we saw on Wednesday against Brock, and we said at halftime just because they don't have a number beside their name means we can just take it easy and blow them out. You've got to take every game seriously and be the same way every night to be a national championship team," said head coach Patrick Tatham on the lack of effort in the first half from the Rams.
The Rams turned the tides coming out of half, outscoring Laurier 35-26 in the third frame, finally breaking out in a game that had been back and forth for the majority of the first two quarters.
"Once we figured out that we should just take one of our bigs out and go small, it started working for us," said Tatham on the adjustments he made in the third.
The bench returned to its high scoring form after a quiet night on Wednesday as Manny Diressa had 21 points in just 18 minutes on 8/10 from the floor. Filip Vujadinovic also posted a strong stat line of 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
"Sometimes Manny has a habit to want to pass a lot, but he's a natural scorer and a natural shooter so the days when he wants to pass he kind of struggles a little bit and today he was aggressive to score and it showed in the box score," said Tatham on Diressa's efforts off the bench.
The Rams lead comfortably into the 4th and the reserves got an extended stretch of seven-minute run as the team wound down the 23 point victory.
Next Saturday will be the final home game of the regular season, as the Rams will play host to the Algoma Thunderbirds. It will also be senior night, as the team will recognize seniors Best, Kadeem Green, and Andy Agyepong.
"Yeah it'll be fun, it's been special for five years so I'm definitely going to enjoy it," said Best on the special night upcoming for him.
Source: Ryerson Rams
Strong shooting lifts Lancers over Voyageurs
The Lancer men's basketball team defeated the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs 82-62 on Friday night at the St. Denis Centre.
With the win, the Lancers improve to 8-6 on the year and hold onto first place in the west division while the Voyaguers fall to 4-9 and sit in third in the north division.
Windsor came out strong out of the gate outscoring Laurentian 18-9 in the first ten minutes of play. The Voyageurs found their grove in the second and matched the Lancers point for point as Windsor held a 39-30 lead heading into the halftime.
In the second, Windsor maintained the lead through the remainder of the game as they shot 100% from the free throw line and an impressive 50% from the field.
Alex Campbell led the way for the Blue & Gold with 24 points and 6 rebounds. Marko Kovac contributed 15 points in the win, while Isiah Osborne had 13 points and Tyler Persaud had 12.
Laurentian was led by Sam Hirst with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while David Aromolaran also had 17 points in the loss.
Windsor is back on the court tomorrow night when they host the Nipissing Lakers on Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.
As part of the 10th annual Breast Cancer Awareness event, the department will be selling commemorative t-shirts, water bottles, toques and grocery totes with all proceeds going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Source: Windsor Lancers