AROUND OUA: Blues oh so close in season opener with crosstown rival Rams
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team dropped a narrow 85-84 decision to the No. 5 nationally ranked Ryerson Rams in their 2015-16 season opener Wednesday night (Nov. 4) at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
SCOREBOARD
Blues oh so close in season opener with crosstown rival Rams
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team dropped a narrow 85-84 decision to the No. 5 nationally ranked Ryerson Rams in their 2015-16 season opener Wednesday night (Nov. 4) at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Ryerson came up with two late steals to overcome a late four-point deficit to seal the win.
First-year guard Devon Williams led the Blues with 23 points, going 7-for-15 from beyond the arc. Fourth-year forward Devin Johnson added 21 points and seven boards, while sophomore standout Sage Usher had 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Veteran forward Manny Sahota notched 12 points and five rebounds, with Daniel Johansson adding six points and seven rebounds in the loss.
The Rams held a hot hand from beyond the arc to build an early 23-8 lead. Johnson drained five free throws and a three-pointer from Sahota brought the game within 11 (29-18) after 10 minutes.
The Blues kept paced throughout the second quarter and trailed the home team 45-31 at halftime.
Toronto exploded in the third quarter, thanks in large part to four three-pointers from Williams. The rookie guard hit his third straight midway through the frame to give Toronto their first lead of the game (52-50). Toronto held a 58-56 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams traded the lead throughout the fourth. All tied up at 74-74 with just over two minutes remaining, Williams drained back-to-back three's to put Toronto up by four. However, Ryerson came up with two late steals in the dying seconds and Juwon Grannum sealed the last second victory for the home team.
Adika Peter-McNeilly led all players with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Roshane Roberts had 15 points in the victory.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
No. 4 Badgers beat No. 8 Marauders on the road to open season
In a match-up of ranked teams the No. 4 Brock Badgers came to Hamilton and beat the No. 8 McMaster Marauders 83-75 to open OUA play on Wednesday night.
The game started ominously for the Marauders as starting centre Connor Gilmore sprained his ankle on the opening tip and had to leave the game, without returning. Despite that loss, McMaster looked to be in control after 20 minutes as it took a 38-29 lead into the intermission, after winning both quarters.
To start the third quarter, Brock threw some pressure at the Marauders and it gave the maroon some trouble. Momentum started to slide toward the Badgers and a 16-2 run gave Brock a four-point lead and forced McMaster to call timeout. At the end of the third, the Brock lead was still four at 60-56.
The final quarter saw McMaster get close but the Badgers seemed to have the answer whenever the Marauders made a run. Some missed free throws down the stretch and some key turnovers by McMaster allowed Brock to maintain the lead and take home the victory.
The Marauders had five players score in double figures, led by Trevon McNeil and Rohan Boney with 14 each. Brock got a strong game from Dani Elgadi, who scored a game-high 23 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double.
The Marauders will go after their first OUA win on Saturday when they travel to Algoma University to face the Thunderbirds. The game starts at 8 p.m. and can be watched online on OUA.tv.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Mustangs top Warriors 90-69 in regular season opener
LONDON, Ont – A team-high 27 points from Greg Morrow helped lead the Western Mustangs to a 90-69 victory over the Waterloo Warriors in their regular season debut on Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.
Morrow was one of four Mustangs to put up double digit point totals in the win. Joining him atop the purple and white scoresheet were Peter Scholtes with 18 points in his first game back since the 2013-14 season, Anthony Spiridis with 15 points, and Jedson Tavernier who recorded 10 points.
Jon Ravenhorst sunk 29 points for the Warriors to lead all players, with teammate Ben Davis next up for the Warriors with 12 of his own. Mike Pereira led the Warriors defence with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Following the win Western head coach Brad Campbell was happy with the victory in the team's season opener, but he was quick to point out that the Mustangs will need to continue to improve to compete with the top teams in the league.
"We're happy with any win, but if we want to achieve what we want to achieve by the end of the season we need to continue to get better." said head coach Brad Campbell. "Greg is one of the better players in the country and he's our best player. He was good enough for us tonight, but he's going to need to be at a better level and great for us, which he can be, for some of our future games coming up."
Both teams came out strong off the tip defensively, keeping the score low for the first five minutes of play. The Mustangs began to take control with four minutes left in the first frame, going on a 14-5 run. Ravenhorst recorded each of his team's five points in the quarter, while both Scholtes and Morrow notched six points apiece to help Western to a 19-5 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
The Mustangs didn't back down their defensive guard throughout the second quarter, with the dynamic duo of Scholtes and Morrow grabbing four rebounds each to help the Mustangs in the possession game. The Warriors began to fight back midway through the quarter, eventually closing the gap to only eight points, but the purple and white refused to lose momentum and a layup from Tavenier helped swing things back in Western's favour. The first half closed out with a score a 44-26 lead for the home side.
The Warriors stepped up in the third quarter in what ended up being the game's closest period, with each side recording 23 points. Despite the tough efforts of the Warriors, the tie quarter meant that the Mustangs maintained an 18-point lead at 67-49 heading into the fourth.
After a fast paced last frame, the Mustangs were able to increase their lead to a game-high 23 points, before eventually finishing things out with a 90-69 win.
While veterans like Morrow and Scholtes topped the scoring charts, the depth and skill the Mustangs have with this year's recruiting class was also apparent in the win, with rookies Nikola Farkic and Ian Smart playing 20 and 15 minutes respectively in their OUA debuts.
"We thought we had a very good recruiting class coming in" said Campbell. "We have rookies that can make an immediate contribution. We have one to four rookies that can probably get some minutes for us this year. That bodes very well for this year's depth and for the future"
The Mustangs continue their season on the road at Laurier on Saturday, November 7 at the Athletic Complex Gym. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.
Source: Western Mustangs
Lancers defeat Hawks on opening night
Alex Campbell and the Lancer men's basketball team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 88-77 on opening night of the 2015-16 season at the St. Denis Centre.
Campbell led all scorers with a game high double-double with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and a steal. Rookie Isiah Osborne also finished the game with a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Marko Kovac chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds.
The Golden Hawks were led by William Coulthard with 22 points and 5 rebounds, while Luke Allin and Matthew Chesson each had 10 points in the loss.
The Lancers opened the game with a 12-3 run before the Hawks came firing back to tie the game at 18 early in the second quarter. Windsor racked up eight personal fouls in the half which allowed the Hawks to get to the line on multiple occasions and keep it a close game.
Despite their foul trouble, the Lancers controlled the boards throughout out-rebounding the Hawks 27-19 in the first half, and 59-37 overall.
Windsor exploded in the third quarter outscoring their opponents 30-19 as they built a twenty point lead in the fourth quarter, en route to their ten point win.
The Lancers will now travel to Waterloo on Saturday to face the Waterloo Warriors at 3:00pm. The game can be seen live at www.oua.tv.
Source: Windsor Lancers
