OUA M-BASKETBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Badgers upset Hawks, York gives Ryerson a scare
Brock 81 @ Laurier 75
Laurier, who held an eight-point lead after three quarters of play, could not hold off the Badgers who outscored the Hawks 29-15 in the final quarter to come away with the victory.
Mark Gibson of Toronto, led the way for the Badgers with 20 points and seven rebounds while Tshing Kasamba of St. Catharines, Ont., Jameson Tipping of Orangeville, Ont., and Mike Luby of Kenora, Ont., also reached double-digits in scoring on the night.
As for the Hawks, Maxwell Allin of Chatham, Ont., was once again Laurier's offensive catalyst as he finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. William Coulthard of Oakville, Ont., and Aiddian Walters of Vaughan, Ont., also chipped in with 18 and 14 points respectively while Nathan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., scored a career-high 12 points.
In what was a fairly even game throughout the contest that saw both teams go on big scoring runs, it was the Badgers who would jump out to the first half lead as they capitalized on their offensive rebounding to hold a 39-32 advantage at the half.
Laurier responded in the third quarter with a great offensive performance, dropping 28 points in the quarter to overtake the Badgers and lead 60-52 heading into the final 10 minutes.
However, the Hawks inability to control Brock on the inside would hurt them in the final quarter as Brock put up 29 points of their own to take the win and advance to the OUA Quarter-finals.
Rebounding proved to be the key stat in the contest as Brock outrebounded Laurier 53-42, including 22-15 on the offensive glass.
While the loss is a tough one for the Hawks, this very young team will return all of its members next year, including CIS leading scorer Allin. Head coach Peter Campbell and his squad will look to build on this experience and improve upon it for the 2013-14 season.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Waterloo 60 @ McMaster 82
The Waterloo Warriors put up a fight, but it was the McMaster men’s basketball team that was left standing at the end, as the Marauders took an 82-60 decision to advance in the OUA playoffs.
Returning to the post season for the first time in three years, Waterloo embraced its underdog role and opened the game by grabbing a 9-2 lead. Not wanting to let the game get away early, the Marauders quickly regrouped and outscored the Warriors 17-2 over the rest of the quarter to lead 19-11 after one.
In a game where the officials would “let them play”, the Warriors took advantage in the second quarter by playing very physical defense and getting some long range shooting from Jaspreet Gill to win the quarter and narrow the Mac advantage to 32-28 by halftime. The only offensive spark for the Marauders came from Joe Rocca, who scored 14 points in the first half.
The third quarter saw the Marauders score first, but the Warriors got as close as they would all game with two baskets to get within two points at 34-32. It was Joe Rocca who then drained a long three to restore some breathing space and the Marauders slowly began to build the lead. Waterloo guard Wells Davis went down with a leg injury midway through the quarter, taking one of the Warriors’ starters off the floor for the rest of the game. After three quarters, the Mac lead stood at 49-39.
In the fourth, Jaspreet Gill did his best to close the gap as he hit two long treys to bring Waterloo within 6 points at 51-45. But it seemed like every time Waterloo saw some life, Joe Rocca would snatch it away. The second-year shooter from Sarnia nailed a long three-pointer and then completed a four-point play as he made a trey and was fouled in the act. That took some wind out of the Waterloo sails and when Adam Presutti and Nate Pelech made three-point shots on the next two Maroon possessions; the Warriors could not recover from the long-range barrage.
Rocca finished with 27 to nab BIG MAC player of the game status, shooting 6 of 11 from beyond the arc. Nathan McCarthy had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards, while Taylor Black added 13. The Marauder point guards did a fine job distributing as Presutti had 11 assists and Aaron Redpath dished out nine. For Waterloo, Gill had 21 and Mike Helsby added 10.
The Marauders now head to Thunder Bay to face Lakehead in the OUA West semi-finals on Saturday, February 23 at 7 pm.
Live streaming of the game should be available online at SSN Canada.
Source: McMaster Sports Info
Queen's 80 @ Laurentian 93
SUDBURY, ON – With the regular season wrapped up, the first round of OUA playoff action got underway in the Ben Avery Gymnasium, with the Laurentian Voyageurs playing host to the Queens Gaels. With the winner progressing to the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference, the Voyageurs stepped up and swept aside the Gaels with a solid performance all round. When the final buzzer sounded, the Voyageurs emerged victors by a score of 93-80.
The first quarter saw the Gaels start off strong, dominating the opening minutes and erupting into a quick 5-0 lead. However, the Voyageurs did not take long to find their rhythm with Manny Pasquale beginning to fire on all cylinders. Helped by 5 Gael turnovers, the Voyageurs quickly assumed control thanks to some excellent ball movement from Josh Budd. Budd distribution allowed Pasquale to find space, where he continued to shoot well throughout the opening quarter. Heading into the second quarter, the Voyageurs has established a 9 point lead, with the scoreboard reading 24-15. The second quarter saw much of the same with the Gaels mounting some early pressure and cutting the lead down to just 6 points. However the Voyageurs were playing inspired basketball, fighting hard during every possession. This was evident when Serresse dove upon a rebound and dished the ball wide to Pasquale to sink the step-back 3. This play got the crowd on their feet, and shifted the momentum back in favour of the Voyageurs. From here, a double-block by Josh Budd helped to spring Nelson Yengue free for an easy basket, expanding the lead further. With arguably the highlight of the half, Georges Serresse produced a timely interception that led to a fast break. From here, Serresse showed why he is a crowd favourite inside the Ben Avery, slamming home the emphatic one-handed dunk. To end the first half, Manny Pasquale hit a remarkable 3-point effort that left the commentators speechless, and left the score line reading 52-38 in favour of the Voyageurs.
The Gaels needed to see vast improvement in the second half if they were to overcome the rampant Voyageurs. Their game plan became immediately recognizable, mounting extreme pressure on the Voyageurs on both ends of the court. This pressure caused multiple mistakes from Laurentian that allowed the Gaels to capitalize and cut the lead down to just 10 points. As the half progressed the Voyageurs restored their lead thanks to some more excellent play by Pasqaule. Entering the fourth quarter, the Laurentian team had regained their lead, and were up by a score of 73-58. This gave the Voyageurs a comfortable lead, with the game in their hands. However this did not deter the Laurentian offense, who continued to pressure even in the dying stages of the game. Pasquale continued to mount the points, totalling 33 points in an all-round excellent performance from the veteran player. To complete the evening, the Voyageurs gave the crowd more to cheer about when Nelson Yengue buried Pasquale’s alley-oop lob pass, putting the game to rest. This cemented Laurentian’s place in the semi-finals of the OUA Eastern Conference play-offs, after defeating the Gaels by a score of 93-80.
The Voyageurs now head to the Ravens Nest on Saturday, 23rd February to take on the number one ranked Carleton Ravens in what is sure to me an exciting evening of basketball action. Tip-off is at 8pm.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
York 77 @ Ryerson 83
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's basketball team outlasted the York Lions in an entertaining contest from start to finish for an 83-77 victory in the OUA east quarter-final on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) led the Ryerson offence with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
The first quarter had a flurry of lead changes as the teams matched each other through the first ten minutes. Five straight points from York's Aaron Rados (Ottawa, Ont.) gave the Lions an 11-6 lead with 6:50 to go before the Rams took the lead back at 17-13 with 3:25 remaining on five straight points from Jones. The two squads exchanged baskets to close the frame with Ryerson holding a 20-17 lead.
The back and forth affair continued into the second quarter. Jordon Gauthier (Windsor, Ont.) put the Rams up by seven at 24-17 before York countered with eight straight points to take a 25-24 lead with seven minutes remaining. Tied at 34-34, David Tyndale (Mississauga, Ont.) hit a deep two to take a 36-34 lead but a well designed play by the Rams left Yannick Walcott (Toronto) wide open underneath and he converted to send the teams into the halftime break deadlocked at 36 points apiece.
Walcott gave the Rams a jolt of energy off the bench and he finished the night with nine points, one of his most productive in a Ryerson uniform.
"He's a veteran, fourth year guy. That's one of the reasons why we brought him here, to give us experience, and I thought he really showed that tonight," said head coach Roy Rana following the game.
Tied at 45-45 in the third quarter, Jones put up five straight points to take a 50-45 lead with four minutes to go. The Lions got to within three but with 3:05 left on the clock, Walcott drove straight to the hoop and converted a three-point play to give the Rams energy and a 53-47 lead. Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) closed the quarter with a three ball to send the Rams into the fourth quarter holding a six point lead at 58-52.
York narrowed the gap to just two points at 68-66 with less than three minutes to go but Ryerson's offence was clutch down the stretch, piling on 15 points in the final 2:30 to ride out the 83-77 victory.
In addition to Jones' 26 points, Gauthier finished with 20 points in the victory and Best added 15 while Bjorn Michaelsen (Otterburn Park, Que.) added ten. Gauthier and Michaelsen each had a game-high seven rebounds.
Rados led the Lions with 20 points while Tyndale finished with 17 in his final OUA game. Nick Tufegdzich (Tecumseh, Ont.) had 14 and Matthew Ziobrowski (Thornhill, Ont.) added 11 in the loss.
With the victory the Rams advance to the OUA east semifinal this Saturday, February 23 where they will face the Ottawa Gee-Gees, in Ottawa.
Coach Rana isn't concerned with the short turnaround time between tonight's contest and Saturday's semifinal.
"We've been through it. At nationals last year it was just a day before you played again so we'll practice tomorrow, we'll watch video and we'll be ready. The guys are ready for the next step."
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
