Gee-Gees race past Lancers 90-77 to capture bronze

TORONTO - The No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees knocked off the Windsor Lancers 90-77 to win the OUA bronze medal at the Wilson Cup Men's Basketball Final Four Saturday night. The victory likely gives the Gee-Gees the at large berth for next weekend's CIS Championships at the University of British Columbia. 

Caleb Agada led the way offensively for Ottawa with a 23 point, 12 rebound performance on 9-for-12 shooting from the floor to earn Porter Airlines Player of the Game honours. Fourth-year Matt Plunkett added 16 points one day after the Gee-Gees fell 82-74 to the No. 1 Carleton Ravens at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

"We knew our season was on the line tonight and if we lost we might not get the wild-card," said Plunkett following the game. "We knew we would put ourselves in the best position with a win today and we came out with a 'win-or-go-home attitude' and it was the difference." 

In the first quarter, Windsor's Mike Rocca got hot from beyond the arc and was a big reason why the two sides were tied at 19 after ten minutes. Success from distance and strong ball movement had the Gee-Gees up 44-38 at halftime. 

Ottawa's head coach James Derouin used his depth down the stretch to keep the defensive pressure up on the Lancers. Nine different Gee-Gees played at least ten minutes and helped minimize the damage of Rocca and Windsor's regular season leading scorer Alex Campbell. 

Campbell finished with a game-high 24 points after picking up a double-double in Windsor's 96-77 loss to the Ryerson Rams the night before. OUA Rookie of the Year Isiah Osborne added 20 points while Rocca finished with 17. 

"We were fairly comfortable with our defense on him, to be honest with you, and he hit tough shots," said Gee-Gees' head coach James Derouin about Rocca. "We just continued to play tough defense on him and… as long as the guys are playing good 'D', we're happy... That was big for us to sort of extend the lead and put the game away." 

Agada and Plunkett highlighted a fantastic 49.3% (33-for-67) shooting evening for Ottawa while the Lancers shot 38.8% (26-for-67).

"We just talked about getting back to playing the way that we play," said Gee-Gees' head coach James Derouin. "From the opening tip, you saw assists and you saw ball movement and you saw just us playing together offensively. And that was good to see. It's been a while. And especially against a good opponent like Windsor, for us to play that way… was great."