AROUND OUA: Presutti, Gee-Gees survive late-game scare at York

SCOREBOARD

Ottawa 70 @ York 69

Toronto 73 @ Ryerson 87

Carleton 92 @ Queen's 50

Algoma 55 @ Brock 72

Lakehead 63 @ Guelph 62

Laurentian 78 @ Nipissing 82

The third-ranked Gee-Gees men's basketball team traveled to Toronto for the first of two final regular season road games this weekend, with the first stop coming at York University.

A generally flatfooted performance throughout most of the game led the Gee-Gees to a last-minute 70-69 win over the Lions. York's incessant pressure after Gee-Gee miscues kept them in the game much longer than most teams, and the Lions missed a buzzer beater chance to complete the upset.

Adam Presutti was the driving force offensively for the Gee-Gees throughout the night with 18 points. In the final minute of the game, it was Presutti's work at the free throw line that handed his team the victory. Down one with 13 seconds remaining, the fifth-year point guard drove to the hoop and drew a crucial foul, converting both of his shots at the line. 

"York played a hell of a game," said Gee-Gees head coach James Derouin. "They probably deserved to win tonight. They outworked and out-hustled us, we made just enough plays to get the win."

Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles was able to overpower the Lions in the paint scoring 15 points and pulling down seven rebounds. On the perimeter, Matt Plunkett buried some key three pointers early and finished with 11 points. 

An off night for Caleb Agada, along with Brody Maracle out of the lineup gave the Lions comfort to move around the floor uncontested. Head coach James Derouin made a concerted effort to play his entire roster in the game, giving advanced minutes to most bench players. The grinder of a game had all of the makings of a freak road loss, but the Gee-Gees snuck away with the win.

In the fourth quarter, Calvin Epistola was forced to exit the game due to injury. He went to the bench with an apparent injury to his left arm, he did not return afterwards. If Epistola is out of the lineup for the second half of the road series, look for increased minutes from freshman point guard Ryan Basso

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Peter-McNeilly reaches 1,000 points in BIA Cup win

TORONTO - Four of the Rams five starters finished in double digit scoring as the Ryerson Rams men's basketball team defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 87-73 on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

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Adika Peter-McNeilly and Manny Diressa each fnished with 20 points in the win while Juwon Grannum added 16 points in the victory on senior night.

With a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter, Peter-McNeilly eclipsed the 1,000 point milestone, becoming the ninth Ram to achieve the mark.

After a tight start to the first quarter the Rams used a 15-2 run to close the frame with a 23-10 advantage. The lead grew early in the second and it looked like it could be a run away with Diressa racking up 15 points in 15 minutes, but the Varsity Blues found their footing.

Toronto outscored the Rams 27-20 in the second quarter to make the halftime difference just a six point spread at 43-37 in favour of Ryerson.

The Blues hung with the Rams in the third quarter and got to within five points but Ryerson headed to the fourth with a 66-58 advantage.

Toronto scored the first four points in the fourth to get within four points but a 12-0 run quickly snuffed out a comeback bid as Ryerson was able to close out the victory. 

Ryerson forced 20 Toronto turnovers and shared the ball extremely well with 19 assists. Peter-McNeilly and Myles Charvis each had five assists for the Rams.

The OUA East leading Rams improve to 16-1 on the season while Toronto drops to 11-6. Ryerson will close the regular season on the road next weekend when they make the trip to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Ravens fly past Gaels for sixteenth win of campaign

KINGSTON, ON — The Carleton Ravens continued their perfect season on Friday night, defeating the Queen's Gaels 93-50 at the Queens' Athletic and Recreation Centre (ARC).

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Connor Wood (Guelph, ON) went off for 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Ravens to another blowout victory, improving their record to 16-0.

Marcus Anderson (Brampton, ON) scored the first points of the game on a jumper off a pass by Kaza Kajami-Keane (Ajax, ON), who set the tone early with the first of his game-high eight assists. The Gaels took an early lead of the game two and a half minutes in off a three by Sammy Ayisi, but the Ravens answered right back with a jumper by Ryan Ejim (Toronto, ON). Queen's hit a couple free throws to go back up 7-6, but a triple by Emmanuel Owootoah (Rexdale, ON) around the midpoint of the first started a 26-0 Ravens run that would continue into the second quarter. The first ended with the Ravens up 23-7, already with nine offensive rebounds and in complete control of the game.

Connor Wood began the second by scoring eight points in just the first two minutes of the quarter, pushing the Ravens lead to 25 points. The Gaels finally ended the run around a minute and a half into the second, off a pair of Sukhpreet Singh free throws, but the Ravens did not relent. Even with Ibrahim Isse's nine points in the quarter, the Gaels were down 51-26 at half, unable to score on one end and stop the Ravens' balanced attack on the other. The Gaels were outrebounded 28-9 in the opening half, and shot just 9-for-27 (33.3%) from the field compared to the Ravens' 18-of-39 (46.1%).

Ejim opened up the second half with a triple, his first and only attempt of the season. The Golden Gaels proceeded to go on a 6-0 run, looking like they came out of the break with some fire. The Ravens just barely outscored the Gaels in the third (13-12), kept alive by Kajami-Keane's two triples in the quarter.

The fourth quarter scoring again began with a Ravens triple, this time by Connor Wood. Stanley Mayambo (Fredericton, NB) hit a couple threes in the quarter to further widen the Ravens gap, and the game was all but over. Joe Rocca (Sarnia, ON) scored the last 7 points for the Ravens, and Carleton ended the game up by more than 40 points in yet another blowout win.

Kajami-Keane finished the game with 14 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals, distributing the ball and playing great defence on the other end. Ejim almost had a double double, just missing out with 12 points and nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Stanley Mayambo led the Ravens bench with 14 points, hitting 4-of-5 from downtown.

The Gael's player of the game was Isse Ibrahim off the bench, the only Gael who managed a decent game against the Ravens' defence. He scored 12 points, including two triples, to lead his team. The rest of the Golden Gaels were unable to get anything going, with their starting five shooting just 6-34 (17.6%) from the field. The Ravens also outrebounded the Gaels 64-34, the most telling stat in their dominant win.

The Ravens will play their last road game of the 2016-17 OUA regular season tomorrow night, taking on the York Lions at the Tait McKenzie Centre at 8 p.m.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Brock downs Algoma

ST. CATHARINES, ON - The No. 4 Brock University men's basketball team defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds by the score of 72-55 Friday night at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.

Leading the Badgers was Johneil Simpson (Toronto, ON) who led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, including four three-pointers. Nolan Mackenzie (Oakville, ON) contributed with 15 points going 6-for-8 from the field. Dani Elgadi (Waterloo, ON) chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

Jermaine Lyle led Algoma with 14 points, while Sean Clendinning and Reng Gum chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Badgers shot 40.6% (26-64) from the field, 29.4% (5-17) from three-point land and 93.8% (15-16) from the free throw line. Algoma went 19-57 (33.3%) from the floor, 7-25 (28.0%) from beyond the arc and 10-19 (52.6%) from the charity stripe.

The Badgers honoured four graduating seniors following the game; Trevor Thompson, Mo Ismail, Ryan Bennett and Nolan Mackenzie.

The Badgers close out the OUA regular season next week when they are on the road versus the Western Mustangs (Feb. 15) and Windsor Lancers (Feb. 18).

Source: Brock Badgers

Lakehead picks up big road win versus division rival Guelph

The Lakehead men's basketball team (5-11) won a close game 63-62 tonight against the Guelph Gryphons (4-13) in the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.

Both teams came out hard, knowing the importance of how this game can make such a big impact on playoff position. The 'Wolves finished the 1^st quarter leading 14-11.

Lakehead had a 9-point lead in the middle of the second but the Gryphons responded by going on a 14-0 run. The 'Wolves went into the half down 30-25.

The battle continued for the rest of the second half. With less than 10 seconds left on the clock, Lakehead lead by only 1. Guelph had the shot with 2 seconds left but luckily for the 'Wolves the ball went around the rim and out, sealing the win for Lakehead.

"Great win tonight. We found a way to win and kept our playoff hopes alive for the meantime. Real happy for our guys and how hard we competed." – Coach Furtado

Bacarius Dinkins led the wolves with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Nick Burke was strong with 15 points and Mike Theodore finished the game with 10 rebounds and 1 steal.

The Thunderwolves will be looking for the sweep tomorrow as they face the Gryphons again at 8pm in Guelph.

Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves

Lakers top Vees in nailbiter

The Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team made is five wins in their past six games with an impressive effort against the Laurentian Voyageurs Friday night.

Nipissing used a consistent effort and a big second quarter as they evened their record to 9-9 after an 82-78 victory.

The win gives the Lakers an almost definite home playoff date on Feb. 22, with opponent and time to be confirmed.

After a tight first quarter and a slim one point lead, Nipissing opened things up in the second, outscoring Laurentian by eight.

That put Nipissing up 39-30 at halftime and set up an exciting second half.

Nipissing extended their lead to 11 points after a 22-20 advantage in the third and 61-50 lead through 30 minutes.

In the fourth, with the game still very much in the balance, Laurentian fought back and closed the gap late.

Nipissing put up 21 points, but Laurentian's 28 had the game going right down to the wire.

The teams traded baskets, as Jordon Campbell and Jerron Rhodes scored late for Nipissing to give Nipissing a bit more of a cushion as Laurentian pushed to tie the game.

In the end, the Lakers held on to move back into third place in the division and keep a strong position in the playoff standings.

Marcus Lewis led the Lakers with 21 points, Ismael Kaba had 11 and Jaaden Lewis and Jordan Roberts added 10 each in the key victory.

Nipissing now faces Algoma on the road Feb. 18 to close out the regular season, as they prep for the playoffs.

Source: Nipissing Lakers