M-BASKETBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Carleton, Ottawa, Windsor and Lakehead to compete for Wilson Cup

OUA men's and women's basketball playoffs are presented by Investors Group

Brock 61 @ Windsor 85

WINDSOR, Ont.- Lien Phillip dropped a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double, and the Windsor Lancers men's basketball team used a dominant second half to book their ticket to the Wilson Cup Final Four, topping the Brock Badgers 85-61. 

After a tight opening half between the two squads, the Lancers spread their lead in the third and then exploded in the fourth to clinch the OUA Quarter-Final match-up, presented by Investors Group, at the St. Denis Centre on Saturday night. 

Evan Matthews tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, and Ismar Seferagic chipped in 15 for the Lancers, who shot 45.3% from the floor but were 50% in the second half, while their counterparts recorded a 31.4% percentage from the field. 

Matthews was dominant early, dropping 10 points within the first six minutes and helping the Lancers to a slim 17-15 lead in a fast-paced opening quarter.  The Lancers would take a 23-18 lead into the second, but a 5-0 run by the Badgers quickly erased the advantage. 

The teams exchanged leads as Brock gained some momentum leading up to the midpoint of the second.  The tempo remained high as the Badgers notched two -straight threes to take a one-point advantage.  Seferagic bucketed a jumper from beyond the arc to move the hosts in front, and after Mark Gibson missed an uncontested lay-up, Michael Petrella notched another three as Windsor sought to tip the scales back its way. 

Seferagic (Toronto) picked up another layup coming out of the timeout, and nailed a three soon after, helping the Lancers maintain their small lead.  Windsor would take a 42-37 advantage into halftime.  There were a total of four lead changes through the first 20 minutes of play. 

Matthews and Jameson Tipping each tallied half-highs of 11 points.  Windsor shot 41.5% from the floor, while the Badgers worked at 35.3% efficiency after the opening two quarters. 

Phillip broke out of his three-point drought, putting the Lancers up by eight to begin the third quarter.  However, C.J. Smith knocked down a corner three to keep the Badgers within striking distance.  But Phillip continued to heat up, taking a pass and driving down the middle of the lane for a thundering drunk that exhilarated the St. Denis Centre crowd. 

The Badgers committed another turnover, and Josh Collins (Toronto) walked the ball up to the edge of the three-point arc and drained the basket to give Windsor its biggest lead of the contest at 59-46.  The play took a chippy turn near the end of the period, as Seferagic and Gibson picked up off-setting technicals after some minor tussling.  The Lancers held a 12-point lead heading into the final quarter. 

However, Brock picked up five-straight to begin the fourth.  Phillip was a rebound machine in the opening minute of the fourth, pulling down three straight boards and then sinking a mid-range jumper that put a stop to Brock's streak.  Seferagic followed that with another three, pushing the deficit back into double-digits.  Windsor continued to pick up steam, as Enrico Diloreto (London, Ont.) followed a fade-away with a steal and ensuing lay-up, leading to a Badgers timeout.  The No. 6 team in the country began to pull away in the final quarter as another big slam, this time by Matthews, spread the lead to 21. 

From there the men would cruise through the final minutes of the contest to the victory, and will head to the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Gardens) at Ryerson University next Friday and Saturday, where they will join Ottawa, Carleton and Lakehead to battle for the conference battle as well as a place in the CIS Final 8. 

As the top seed in the West, Windsor will face Ottawa in the OUA Semi-Finals.  The winner of that match will earn a berth in the national championships as well as a place in the Wilson Cup Final.

Source: Windsor Sports Info

McMaster 76 @ Lakehead 81

The men's basketball team overcame an atrocious start to the game to recover against a very hard nosed and talented McMaster team, winning 81-76 on Saturday night in front of a capacity Thunderdome crowd.
 
McMaster opened up the game on an 11-2 run, before coach Scott Morrison brought in some bench players to switch things up. The move worked out well, with Nathan Wainwright coming off the bench to hit a big three-pointer, and reserve forward Joseph Nitychoruk putting in 6 first half points. The bench stemmed the tide in the first quarter, getting the McMaster lead down to 19-16 after 10 minutes. McMaster came right back in the second Q, out-scoring the T-Wolves 20-11 in the quarter to lead 39-27 at halftime. Marauder big man Taylor Black had a fantastic first half, going 6-8 from the field and 5-5 on the charity stripe for 19 points. He would finish with a game-high 29 points and 7 rebounds (10-16 FG, 4-5 3FG, 5-5 FT). Black was also the reason McMaster stayed as close as they did down the stretch, playing a beautiful two-man game with his point guard Aaron Redpath a-la pick-and-roll.
 
With their fate hanging in the balance, the Thunderwolves came out of the gate in the second half with a purpose in mind. Dwayne Harvey (Hamilton, ON) and Greg Carter (Ottawa, ON) turned up the D and Lakehead rolled off 6 unanswered points to begin the second half. Harvey's production came mostly off penetration to the basket, while Carter was up to his usual tricks, pressuring the opposing point guard, and creating turnovers for uncontested layups. Carter came close to a triple double with 12 points, 9 steals and 9 assists to lead the T-Wolves.
 
Lakehead did its damage in the 3rd quarter, out-scoring McMaster 22-10, as the Marauders' offense struggled to recoup its previous swagger. Lakehead took its first lead of the game with the score 43-42. The fourth quarter was a shoot-out, with Lakehead putting up 32 points to McMaster's 27. Lakehead got key three-pointers from Ben Johnson (Pictou, NS), Dwayne Harvey  and Ryan Thomson down the stretch to keep the Marauders at bay. Johnson finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds while Harvey led the 'Wolves with 17 points, 5 assists and 3 boards on 7-of-9 shooting. Thomson finished with 8 points and 5 assists. Joseph Jones brought the energy as usual, scoring 9 in 15 minutes of play. Lakehead shot 6-of-9 from behind the arc in the second half, after going 3-of10 in the first.
 
Rounding out the scoring for the Marauders was Aaron Redpath with 16 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds while Nathan Pelech had 10 points of his own. Joe Rocca went 3-of-11 from the field for 9 points.
 
Both teams shot an identical 29-of-65 from the field (44.6%), with Lakehead holding a slight edge on the glass (29-26).
 
Coach Scott Morrison:
 
"Over the years, this group of players has made a name for themselves with gritty comebacks just like the one we saw tonight.  I have to give credit to our assistant coaches who came up with some excellent half-time adjustments in addition to our entire team  - each man gave his all this week. McMaster played well without one of their top players [Adam Presutti] and guys like Taylor Black and Nathan Pelech really stepped up their game with excellent performances."
 
Morrison concludes, "It was a classic, patented win for this group of seniors to finish their home careers. Thank you to the enormous crowd we had tonight...  They were lined up out the doors an hour before the game and lined up in the parking lot an hour afterwards, it is an honor to play and coach for this school and we will do everything we can to make our supporters just as proud next week."

With the win the Lakehead men advance to the Wilson Cup Final Four, hosted by Ryerson University at the newly renovated Mattamy Athletic Centre (former Maple Leaf Gardens), next weekend on Friday and Saturday.

Source: Lakehead Sports Info

Ryerson 70 @ Ottawa 74

OTTAWA - It is difficult to draw the line between the Ryerson Rams and the uOttawa Gee-Gees, as every time they meet on the court a sure fire thriller can be expected. In yet another down to the wire game, it was a career best performance by Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue that pushed Ottawa past the Rams by 74-70.

“I’m so proud of Gab. He really was the difference because once he gets into a rhythm like he did tonight it’s so hard to stop him. He is just so relentless,” said head coach James Derouin. “He really represents everything that’s good about uOttawa and this basketball program. He is one of our best students, he’s a bilingual kid and I just love him to death, he really deserves so much high praise.”

Despite recording 20 points, Ryerson’s Aaron Best struggled as he shot 9-for-26 on the night. After eliminating Ottawa from the playoffs on home court last season, the Rams will suffer the same pain, as the favour was returned by the Gee-Gees this year.

After a neck-and-neck first half, both teams battled hard at the end of the second quarter in what appeared to be a competition for the half-time lead.  With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Rams took the lead when Aaron Best hit three free throws after being fouled on a long three.

The Gee-Gees quickly responded with a three from Vikas Gill and took a one point lead with seconds remaining in the frame. However, the Ryerson’s Ostap Choliy was able to hit a lobbed three pointer to beat the buzzer and take a 33-32 lead into half-time.

Ottawa started the second half with a flurry of shots inside and were able to maintain a lead for most of the third frame. Gonthier-Dubue was dominant in the paint during the third quarter. He appeared to spark Ottawa’s offence as he poured in nine points in an eight minute time frame.

After hanging on to the lead for the majority of the fourth quarter the Gee-Gees lost the lead with 3:29 remaining, when Best drained a long three to take a one point lead. Ottawa quickly responded after a timeout and retook the lead thanks to series of clutch plays inside by Gonthier-Dubue and Gill.

The decisive moment came when Mike L’Africain hit a three pointer thanks to an ankle breaking move that left him open from long range. The basket put Ottawa ahead by three points with one minute remaining in the game.  With 10.4 seconds remaining Ottawa’s Johnny Berhanemeskel was able to seal the win with a steal which allowed the Gee-Gees to regain possession and ultimately hold on for the victory.

“I’m very happy with our performance tonight because it was a scrappy game and it wasn’t pretty. Those are the games that we have struggled with in the past so it shows how our team is moving forward,” Derouin said.

Gonthier-Dubue led all Gee-Gees in scoring as he finished the game with 31 points, seven rebounds and 7-for-11 shooting from the charity stripe. Despite having an off night from long range, Warren Ward contributed with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

“We worked so hard all year and I made so many sacrifices to come play here. Today was a due or die game so I just put my heart into it and gave it my all. I’m just happy that we proved that we are not a team to be taken lightly,” said Gonthier-Dubue.  

Ottawa will now head to the OUA Final Four to compete for the Wilson Cup at Ryerson University this coming Friday and Saturday. Ottawa will face the Windsor Lancers in the provincial semifinal on Friday night.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

Laurentian 75 @ Carleton 95

The Carleton Ravens men`s basketball team have taken an important step in their quest for another national championship.

On Saturday night at the Ravens Nest, Carleton outscored the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs by a cool 20 points, 95-75 in OUA East semi-final action to advance to next weekend`s Wilson Cup Final Four tournament.

Thomas Scrubb led the Ravens in scoring with 22 points and said, “we (Carleton) knew it was going to be a tough game and were aware that we had to play well.

“Laurentian made it close for a while but we picked up the tempo and kept hustling to the end. Now we`re headed to Toronto and the Final Four, the whole team is really excited to play in that.“

The event will be held Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto.

The semi-final match-up between Carleton and Laurentian was contested after the Voyagers bounced Queen`s 93-80 in Sudbury last Wednesday.

Carleton drew a first round bye after sporting an impressive 19-1 regular season finish and No. 1 seed in the OUA East division.

The two teams hooked up twice during the season with Carleton coming out on top in convincing fashion on both occasions.

But the playoffs are a different game and Laurentian gave the Ravens for much of the night.

The Voyageurs were down by 13 at the half but chipped away at the deficit and came within 4 points 61-57 with less than three minutes in their third quarter.

Laurentian outscored Carleton in that frame 25-19 which was easily their best portion of the contest.

In the fourth and final quarter, Carleton turned up the intensity level as they took over the game and punched their ticket to Toronto.

The Ravens pulled away from the Voyageurs with a convincing final 10 minutes of play outscoring their opposition 28-15 in Carleton`s last game at the Ravens Nest for this season.

“When things got close we started making better decisions and Tommy (Thomas Scrubb) calmed things down,“ said Ravens assistant coach, Rob Smart.

“Now we prepare for Toronto, it`s going to be tough, we`re going to be going against teams with players that can make plays.“

Source: Carleton Sports Info