M-BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: No.3 Rams dominate Lions in cross-town matchup

(Photo: Emma Ewing-Nagy)

Wednesday, January 14

York 51 @ Ryerson 89

The No. 3 Ryerson Rams men's basketball team took advantage of some poor opponents' shooting to claim a blowout 89-51 victory over the York Lions on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) had a game-high 19 points in just 22 minutes of action while Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) added 15 and Kadeem Green (Richmond Hill, Ont.) flirted with a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds to lead the Rams.

York struggled offensively throughout Wednesday's contest, shooting just 29.0% from the floor. Ryerson's defence forced 24 turnovers and converted those into 23 points.

After ten minutes of action the Rams led 21-12 and by halftime the lead was at 42-26. 

Unsatisfied with his team's first half performance and a questionable foul called against the Lions to open the third quarter, York's head coach quickly picked up two technical fouls and was ejected from the game just 16 seconds into the second half.

His team was uninspired by the ejection, putting up just eight points in the quarter and giving up 30 to the Rams to blow the game wide open. Ryerson led 72-34 after thirty minutes and finished the game out with an 89-51 win.

"We're just trying to continue to work on us and our game," said assistant coach Patrick Tatham following the game. "The little things are what's going to help us against top ranked teams."

York's Richard Iheadindu had a team-high 12 points in the loss.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Western 75 @ Laurier 69

A career-high 34 points from Greg Morrow and a strong second half helped lead the Western Mustangs over the Laurier Golden Hawks 75-69 on Wednesday night at the Wilfrid Laurier Athletic Complex.
 
Wednesday night's win marks the third victory in a row for the Mustangs, who now hold a 7-3 record and maintain their spot atop the OUA West Division standings. The Golden Hawks move to 4-6 on the year and remain in third place in the West.
 
Morrow's stellar scoring performance led all players on the scoresheet while Quinn Henderson and Charlie Drouin also hit the double digit mark with 12 and 10 points respectively. Will Coulthard led the home side with 18 points while two other Laurier players also had double digit scoring totals.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start with the game's first points not coming until after the two minute mark. After trading points throughout the quarter the Golden Hawks began to pull away late in the frame, eventually finishing the opening ten minutes with a 15-11 lead.
 
The Golden Hawks seemed to take control midway through the second quarter, climbing out to an 11-point lead with three minutes remaining in the half, however those final three minutes played out in the Mustangs favour with the purple and white outscoring their opponents 8-3. After 20 minutes Laurier led 32-25 by the end of the first half.
 
The purple and white returned from the locker room and slowly began to take control, thanks in part to their success from the line that including the Mustangs scoring 12 of their 31 points in the quarter off of free throws. Morrow was outstanding in the quarter, scoring 16 of his 34 total points in the first 10 minutes after halftime, to help Western head into the fourth quarter with a 56-53 lead.
 
With the stage set for an exciting finish, both teams began to utilize the entire shot clock to set up their plays and give themselves the best chance to score. The two teams stayed within a basket of each other for the quarter's opening few minutes before Western began to slowly pull away with a 14-4 run that was kicked off by a three pointer from Henderson a little over two minutes into the frame. Despite a late push from the Golden Hawks the Mustangs held on to their lead, claiming a 75-69 victory.

Source: Western Mustangs

Windsor 79 @ Waterloo 74

The Waterloo Warriors had the CIS #6 Windsor Lancers on the ropes with a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on for a victory. Windsor out-scored the Warriors 12-1 in the last 2.5 minutes and squeaked out a 79-74 win.
 
In a game that featured 12 lead changes and 8 ties, it promised to be a close finish at the end. Myles Charvis (Mississauga) hit one of two free throws with 39 seconds remaining to tie the score at 74-74.
 
Rotimi Osuntola quickly put Windsor in front and Waterloo still had 32 seconds remaining to reverse that fortune. An open look shot by Ben Davis (Mississauga) fell short and Windsor picked up the rebound.
 
With Windsor hitting just one of two free throws, Waterloo had another chance with 5 seconds left and down 3. This time it was a Myles Charvis (Mississauga) shot that went off the side of the backboard while ultimately ended the contest.
 
Waterloo went mostly with six players for the contest with Charvis playing the entire 40 minutes and collecting 22 points. Jaspreet Gill (Oliver) scored 14, Ben Davis (Mississauga)had 13 and Jon Ravenhorst (Sarnia) chipped in with 12 points to round out the leading scorers.
 
Osuntola had 19 for the Lancers, while Alex Campbell added 17 points. Mitch Farrell had 10 points for the Lancers in the first half but did not play in the second, despite there being no obvious injury.
 
The Lancers held the shooting and rebounding edge on the Warriors, with a 47% to 40% margin in shooting and 42-31 edge in rebounds. The Lancers, however, only made 50% of their free throws.

Source: Waterloo Warriors