Gee-Gees survive scare, off to third straight national semifinal

TORONTO (CIS) – Caleb Agada scored 22 points and Johnny Berhanemeskel added 19 as the Ottawa Gee-Gees avoided a scare on Thursday night in quarter-final action at the 2015 ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS Final 8 Men's Championship with a 91-85 overtime win over the Bishop's Gaiters.
 
"I think there's an angel watching over our team or something cause at times they deserved that win," Berhanemeskel said.
 
"I mean it's basketball and sometimes it doesn't always work like that but we got to squeeze out a win and get another chance on Saturday so we'll just take it and run with it."
 
Leading 19-11 after the first quarter, the Gaiters went on a 24-3 run and led 35-28 after 20 minutes.
 
Ottawa would bounce back with both teams trading blows through the second half of play. A tip by Mike Andrews at the buzzer would give Bishop's a 51-46 lead going into the fourth.
 
Andrews would finish the game with 17 points while Jona Bermillo shot 6-10 from the three-point line to finish with 23 points and lead all Gaiters.
 
"If I was being honest, I would say that they probably deserved to win this one based on this stat sheet," James Deroiun, head coach of the Gee-Gees, said. "You got fourth and fifth year guys that just don't want to stop playing. They willed it. I can't look at this (stat sheet), I would never guys if I looked at this that we won the game based on the stat sheet."
 
With such a tight game, Bishop's head coach Rod Gilpin thought his No. 6 ranked team could have been on the winning side of things at game's end.
 
"It's pretty devastating," he said. "I thought we played very hard the whole game. I think we definitely believed we could win."
 
Ottawa, ranked No. 3, will advance to Saturday's semifinal against the host No. 7 Ryerson Rams at 8:30 p.m., live on Sportsnet 360. It will be the third straight semifinal appearance for the Gee-Gees, who claimed CIS bronze two years ago and a program-best silver in 2014.
 
The loss means the Gaiters will face the Windsor Lancers in Friday's second consolation match at 4 p.m.
 
STAT LEADERS
 
OTT: 19-9-18-30-15: 91 (OT)
BIS: 11-24-16-25-9: 85
 
Ottawa
Points: Caleb Agada (22), Johnny Berhanemeskel (19), Mike L'Africain (17)
Rebounds: Caleb Agada (9), Johnny Berhanemeskel (6), Mehdi Tihani (6)
Assists: Mike L'Africain (7)
 
Player of the game: Johnny Berhanemeskel
 
Bishop's
Points: Jona Bermillo (23), Mike Andrews (17), Karim Sy-Morissette (12)
Rebounds: Mike Andrews (18), Majid Naji (7)
Assists: Jona Bermillo (7)
 
Player of the game: Jona Bermillo
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Thursday, March 12
11:00 Quarter-final 1: No. 1 Carleton 90, No. 8 Saskatchewan 50
13:00 Quarter-final 2: No. 4 Victoria 57, No. 5 Dalhousie 56
18:00 Quarter-final 3: No. 7 Ryerson 82, No. 2 Windsor 68
20:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 3 Ottawa 91, No. 6 Bishop's 85 (OT)
 
Friday, March 13
14:00 Consolation 1: Saskatchewan vs. Dalhousie (Rogers TV / www.CIS-SIC.tv) * 
16:00 Consolation 2: Windsor vs. Bishop's (Rogers TV / www.CIS-SIC.tv) * 
 
Saturday, March 14
14:00 5th-place game (Rogers TV / www.CIS-SIC.tv) * 
18:00 Semifinal 1: Carleton vs. Victoria (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) ** 
20:30 Semifinal 2: Ryerson vs. Ottawa (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) ** 
 
Sunday, March 15
11:30 Bronze (Rogers TV / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *  
15:00 Final (Sportsnet 360 & ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) ** 
 
* Rogers TV, Rogers TV Sports +, Super Sports Pak.
** The webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.