SCOREBOARD

Laurentian 79 @ York 58

Ottawa 91 @ Western 55

Nipissing 93 @ Queen's 84

Carleton 104 @ Windsor 54

Algoma 58 @ Guelph 76

Voyageurs take down Lions with strong shooting game

The York University Lions men's basketball team returned to the court on Friday night when the Laurentian Voyageurs travelled to the Tait McKenzie Centre. A highly effective shooting day from the Voyageurs would ultimately make the difference as Laurentian took the victory by a score of 79-58.
 
Nidun Chandrakumar  (Scarborough, Ont.) brought it in the first half as he rejected all possible scoring hopes with a huge block on the Voyageurs first possession. The swat electrified the crowed and his teammates. Chandrakumar would also display his impressive footwork and balance with a deceptive step followed by an easy finger role.
 
The high-flying Jayden Frederick (Scarborough, Ont.) contributed with his seven points in the first half. However, it wasn't enough to extinguish a hot half of shooting for the Voyageurs. In the first half Laurentian went 10 for 10 from the free throw line and the Lions' troubles of inconsistent shooting came to a head when in the second when they did not manage to sink a basket for nearly seven minutes. These issues gave the Voyageurs a 44-23 lead entering halftime.
 
Nana Adu-Poku (North York, Ont.) took matters into his own hands as he recorded 10 points in the third quarter to try and help the Lions get back into it, but only two other Lions scored in the frame and the Voyageurs remained well ahead.
 
In the fourth, Yonathan Kristos (Toronto, Ont.) was a grinder as he fell to the ground to regain possession of the ball, then while he was on his back he found Ammar Hassan (London, Ont.) for the quick lay in. Hassan would continue his point scoring as he recorded nine points in the quarter.
 
The Lions had a much more productive second half but it was not enough to close the gap. The loss dropped the Lions to 4-9 on the season, while the Voyageurs improved to 5-9 with the win.
 
The Lions will look to get back into the win column on Saturday when they welcome the Nipissing Lakers to the Tait McKenzie Centre. Tip-off is set for 8pm.

Source: York Lions

Gee-Gees regain long range touch in rout of Western

The Gee-Gees men's basketball team struck offensive gold in a 91-55 win on Friday afternoon at Western University. The no. 3 ranked team in U SPORTS continued their trend of a spreading the ball around on offence and for the first time this season the Gee-Gees were shooting the lights out from beyond the arc in a performance reminiscent of the team's recent seasons.

One of the most notable stories was the breakout shooting of first-year guard Ryan Basso. The Timmins, Ont. native hit four consecutive threes, tallying 12 points in only 10 minutes of play. Basso was one of five players to score in double digits, as a whole the team made good on 17 threes, shooting 47.2 per cent in the game. 

"Basso had some injuries and bad luck to start his career," said Gee-Gees head coach James Derouin. "It was great to see him out there making shots and doing some of the things he did as a recruit."

Mackenzie Morrison was the leading scorer in the game with 13 points coming off of the bench, Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles, Adam Presutti, and Brandon Robinson also reached double figures to guide the team to victory. Robinson cracked the starting lineup for the Gee-Gees for the first time this season; since breaking out against Carleton he has been averaging 10.75 points per game.

Caleb Agada allowed others to handle the scoring load. Focusing on defence, he had seven defensive rebounds and two steals. Turning defence into offence was key for the team in the win, causing 20 turnovers resulted in 30 points. If the Gee-Gees can continue to parlay their two attacks, it could be the most essential improvement made to enhance a national championship run. 

Another impressive feat for the Gee-Gees was that every player on the floor scored at least once. Ottawa's 42 bench points were easily the most that the second unit have scored this season.

"It was a good game for us on the road and great to see our ball movement and some shots fall for our offence," said Derouin.

The Gee-Gees will travel down the 401 to Windsor for a game against the Lancers at the St. Denis Centre. The two teams have had many battles and should be a marquee matchup of two top OUA Teams.

"Windsor is a great offensive team with a ton of weapons," said Derouin. "We'll need to be on our best to win in one of the toughest places to play in the OUA."

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Singh moves into second all-time in Gaels scoring in loss to Lakers

KINGSTON, Ont. (January 27, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team was unable to break its current losing streak on Friday evening, falling 93-84 to the Nipissing Lakers at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC).
 
Sukhpreet Singh tallied a game-high 29 points, surpassing Derek Richardson for second on the Gaels men's basketball's all-time scoring list, while Tanner Graham tallied 24 points and 12 rebounds in a losing cause for the Gaels (6-7), who fall under the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Lakers improve to 6-8 in conference play after shooting a solid 43.3% (13-30) from three-point range.

   
GAME FLOW
After the visitors used a 12-2 run to close out the opening quarter with a 24-16 lead, the Gaels cut the deficit to four early in the second. The Lakers answered, scoring five points in a row. Consecutive three-point baskets from Nipissing extended the lead to 10.
 
Russell Winters (Long Island, N.Y.) hit a three, and Graham (Kingston) followed that up with a drive and hoop to quickly slice the lead in half. A three from Singh (Toronto) moments later would bring the men within a basket of evening the contest.
 
But a turnover from the Gaels led to a three-point play for the Lakers. After an unnecessary quick shoot-and-miss from the hosts that followed on their next possession, Ismael Kaba drained a three after two consecutive offensive boards from Nipissing, prompting a timeout from head coach Stephan Barrie with just over a minute left in the half.
 
After a deceptive hesitation move led to an acrobatic lay-up from Singh that brought the crowd to its feet, Marcus Lewis responded with a buzzer-beating three, quieting the home audience as the teams entered the break with Nipissing leading 46-36.
 
Singh picked up four quick points to open the second half, helping to bring the men within four points of the Nipissing lead. The Lakers went on an 8-0 run through the middle portion of the third, however, taking a 12-point lead before a three-point play from Graham helped stem the tide.
 
Throughout a hectic final few minutes of the third that was quick-paced, the Gaels were unable to take a significant chunk out of the Laker lead, but an important second-chance three-pointer from Graham helped the men stay within single digits heading into the final quarter.
 
Nipissing's Addy Ogunye jacked a three to start the fourth, pushing the lead back up to double-digits. The three-point show began soon after, as Graham hit three jumpers in a row from beyond the arc, while the Lakers responded at the other end to maintain a multiple possession advantage.
 
A lay-up by Singh was sandwiched between two hard-working baskets from Jesse Graham (Kingston), cutting the lead down to five. But after Ogunye hit three free throws following a foul on his long attempt, the guard drained an open basket from range, quickly spreading the lead back to 11 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.

Singh took off for the next 80 seconds, draining seven points in a row for his team. But the Nipissing timely shooting continued, as the Lakers drained another three, its 13th of the contest, to maintain a nine-point lead with 40 seconds left, putting the game out of reach.
 
FINAL SAY
"The first quarter was the one that came back and cost us," said head coach Steph Barrie. "Our energy in the second half and compete level was good, even though we made a few mistakes. But we didn't have the energy coming out of the blocks, and if you look at the stat sheet, the first quarter was the swing quarter. I give Nipissing credit because when we made comeback plays, they responded with a shot made, or foul drawn and played very well in response to our runs. We have to fix the first quarter and the energy level coming out of the gate, and sustain it to bounce back tomorrow night."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
1,290- Singh sits at 1,290 career points, and is 47 points away from Mitch Leger's all-time record at 1,337
5- Tanner Graham has now tallied five double-doubles this season
47- Nipissing picked up 47 bench points, compared to 12 from the Gaels

Source: Queen's Gaels

Ravens ruthless in big win over Windsor

WINDSOR, ON — The Carleton Ravens men's basketball team defeated the Windsor Lancers 104-54 on Friday night, the 50 points being their biggest margin of victory this season.

BOX SCORE

Connor Wood (Guelph, ON) led the Ravens with 30 points and seven 3-pointers in just 23 minutes, also adding four assists and four steals in a marquee performance. The win put the Ravens at 13-0, yet to taste defeat in the 2016-17 season.

The Lancers started in control of the game, hitting four triples in the first quarter to lead early on. Connor Wood had eight points in the first to counter, and his three-pointer with just nine seconds left in the opening quarter put the Ravens up 18-16 going into the second.

The Lancers continued to go toe-to-toe with the Ravens in the next frame, thanks to Micqueel Martin's second and third triples of the game early in the quarter. The Lancers kept it close until around six minutes left in the first half, when Connor Wood went on a personal 12-0 run, propelling the Ravens'  lead to double digits. Wood finished with 18 points and four triples in the second quarter, and the Ravens ended the half with a 20-point lead, up 48-28 on the Lancers.

The Ravens continued their dominant play into the third, starting the second half on a 22-6 run, 11 of which came from Eddie Ekiyor (Ottawa, ON). Guard Emmanuel Owootoah (Rexdale, ON) ended the third with a triple, and the Ravens held a comfortable 79-40 lead.

The Ravens bench played most of the fourth, led by Owootoah and TJ Lall (Cambridge, ON) who both scored eight points in the final period. The Ravens enjoyed some spectacular performances from key players, and they recovered from a poor first quarter for their thirteenth victory in a row.

Connor Wood ended the game shooting 11-for-15 from the field and 7-of-10 from deep, an extremely efficient night for the Ravens' leading scorer. Owootoah played his best game of the season, scoring 17 points in just 18 minutes, including four triples on just five attempts from downtown. He also added four assists, four rebounds and two steals in an outing that is sure to have head coach Dave Smart sending more minutes his way. Ekiyor ended the game with 16 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting night, also adding five boards and two blocks. Lall and Joe Rocca (Sarnia, ON) rounded out the five players who scored in double figures for the Ravens, adding ten each.

Martin led the way for the Lancers with 14 points and four threes, but Windsor had no answer for the Ravens defence, shooting just 28.6% from the field for the entirety of the game. The Ravens more than doubled the Lancers' rebound (44 to 21), assist (25 to 11) and steal (14-6) totals for the game in an all-around dominant display.

The Ravens will take on the Western Mustangs on Saturday January 28 (8 p.m.) at Alumni Hall in London, ON.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Wallace scores 20, Gryphons beat Thunderbirds for first win at GGAC

GUELPH, ON - With just three weeks remaining in the regular season schedule, the Gryphons men's basketball team is in the middle of a fight for a playoff spot. While it's too early to be throwing around the term must-win, there is no question that Friday night's home matchup with Algoma was a two-points the Gryphs needed to get. And the team responded with one of their best performances of the season. The Gryphons won 76-58 over the visiting Thunderbirds, snapping a six-game losing streak and improving to 4-9 on the season to remain in 3rd in the OUA's Central Division. The top three teams in each of the OUA's four divisions qualify for the playoffs. Algoma, like the Gryphs, are sitting in 3rd in their division, but now fall to 4-10 on the season following Friday night's result.

The Gryphons got off to a great start Friday against Algoma, building up a 23-13 lead after the opening quarter of play. Fourth year guard Jonathan Wallace, who finished the night with a team-high 20 points, helped get things going early on with back-to-back threes. The Gryphons would end a strong 1st quarter by going on a 15-4 run over the final 5:28 to take an early double digit lead which the team would not relinquish.

Algoma entered Friday night's game fresh off a 79-78 victory over Windsor in which the Thunderbirds knocked down 10 three pointers and shot 41.7% from beyond the arc. Things were a little harder to come by on Friday however as a the Gryphs locked things down defensively on the perimeter. The Gryphons were able to hold Algoma to just 2-of-19 shooting (10.5%) from beyond the arc. Aside from leading the team in scoring, Jonathan Wallace also finished with a team-high four steals on the night as the Gryphons held their opponents to a season-low 58-points on 29% shooting from the field (19-65).

The Gryphons bench outscored Algoma's 33-15, with rookie point guard Jordan Sobot chipping in with 10 points off the pine. Fellow rookie Banky Alade (Sherwood Park, Alberta) had a team-high 7 rebounds as the Gryphs won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the Thunderbirds 40-31.

The victory also marked the Gryphons first win on their new home court in what was their third game at the new Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. They will look to make it two in a row as they will be right back in action on Saturday as they play host to the No. 6-ranked team in the country in division rivals Brock (8-4). Tip is set for 8pm on Saturday and can be seen live online at www.oua.tv.

Source: Guelph Gryphons