Blues win big in OUA playoff showdown with Thunderwolves
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team booked their ticket to the OUA quarter-finals, defeating the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves 82-61 on Wednesday night (Feb. 22) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team booked their ticket to the OUA quarter-finals, defeating the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves 82-61 on Wednesday night (Feb. 22) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
The win marks the first playoff victory for Varsity Blues head coach John Campbell in his fourth season at the helm, as well as the first for the program since 2009.
With the decisive victory, U of T will now hit the road to challenge the No. 5 nationally ranked Brock Badgers in OUA quarter-final action this Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25) at 2 p.m. All the action will be streamed live on OUA.tv.
In the opening round matchup, the Varsity Blues started the game on fire, hitting their first five shots to quickly jump ahead of the Thunderwolves, while forcing Lakehead's 2015-16 all-star forward Bacarius Dinkins into early foul trouble.
Most impressive though was Toronto's defensive intensity, holding their Northern opponent to just 33 percent from the field. Dominating at both ends of the court, U of T cruised to the 21-point victory with every player contributing on the stats sheet.
Varsity Blues perennial scoring threat Devin Johnson once again led the way, picking up a double-double with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow front court running mate Daniel Johannson chipped in 13 points and four rebounds, while defensively digging in against the aforementioned Dinkins along with fifth-year forward Kwais Oti-Awere. Meanwhile, fourth-year guard Reilly Reid also shined with 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists.
As a team the Blues shot nearly 50 percent on the night, while also receiving 22 points from the bench.
#CHAMPSZN - The 2017 U SPORTS Men's Basketball Championship is set for March 9-12, 2017, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S. - Watch LIVE on Sportsnet 360
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Lakehead | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (22-65) | (28-57) |
| Field Goal % | 33.8% | 49.1% |
| Rebounds | 42 | 39 |
| Assists | 7 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 13 | 10 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 13 | 11 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 11 | 8 |
| Pts in the Paint | 0 | 0 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 0 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 21 | 22 |
