AROUND OUA: Rams beat No. 3 Gee-Gees in overtime thriller

SCOREBOARD

Ryerson 94 @ Ottawa 88

Brock 91 @ Windsor 69

McMaster 89 @ Western 95

Laurier 78 @ Lakehead 75

Toronto 36 @ Carleton 100

Waterloo 74 @ Guelph 76

Nipissing 87 @ Algoma 88

Rams beat No. 3 Gee-Gees in overtime thriller

OTTAWA - The No. 5 ranked Ryerson Rams men's basketball team emerged victorious from Ottawa's Montpetit Hall with an important 94-88 victory in overtime over the No. 3 Gee-Gees on Saturday night.

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Adika Peter-McNeilly carried the weight for the Rams, racking up 32 points in the victory while Manny Diressa was hot on his heels with 28 points. 

The Rams were sluggish out of the gate and looked to be in for another tough night in a building that they haven't had much success in. Ryerson trailed 17-8 after the opening ten minutes.

Ryerson's offence kicked into another gear in the second quarter, amassing 28 points and chipping into the deficit to make it a 41-36 halftime score.

The Rams opened the third quarter on a 15-5 run and had erased their early deficit entirely. Ryerson's defence limited the Gee-Gees to a game-low 10 points in the quarter and the Rams took a 57-55 lead into the fourth quarter when Adam Voll hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds left in the frame.

The fourth quarter was a wild and entertaining ten minutes which, ultimately, required more time to determine a victor. Both teams traded big shots for big shots but it was some clutch free throw shooting from the Rams that sent the game to overtime. Trailing 78-76 with seven seconds remaining, Peter-McNeilly calmly knocked down two of his seven made free throws on the night to tie things up. The Rams got a stop on defence to send the game to overtime.

In the extra frame the Rams scored the first seven points, including a corner three-ball from Myles Charvis to give Ryerson an 85-78 lead with 3:25 to play. The Gee-Gees got to within four but more clutch free throws from Peter-McNeilly and Diressa sealed the victory for the Rams.

Free throw shooting played a major role in this one as the Rams hit 21-of-24 shots for an 87.5% clip while Ottawa struggled, going just 10-for-29 (34.5%) from the charity stripe.

With the win Ryerson finishes the season with a 17-2 record and a third place ranking in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) standings. That means the Rams will host an OUA quarter-final game on Saturday, February 25 against an opponent to be determined. Stay tuned to ryersonrams.ca for all playoff schedule updates.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Brock takes down Windsor to wrap up regular season

WINDSOR, ON - The No. 4 Brock University men's basketball ended the OUA regular season with a 91-69 victory over the Windsor Lancers Saturday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.

Johneil Simpson (Toronto, ON) had the hot hand registering a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers. Dani Elgadi (Waterloo, ON) contributed with 14 points and seven rebounds while Tyler Brown (Hamilton, ON) and Cassidy Ryan (Mississauga, ON) added 12 and 11 points respectively in the victory.

Micqueel Martin and Mike Rocca both added 14 points each for the Lancers.

The Badgers shot 45.7% (32-70) from the field, including 11-24 (45.8%) from beyond the arc and 16-25 (64.0%) from the free throw line. Windsor went just 23-68 (33.8%) from the floor, 12-37 (32.4%) from long range and 11-16 (68.8%) from the charity stripe.

The Badgers will host the an OUA Quarter-Final contest on Saturday, February 25th at 2pm inside the Bob Davis Gymnasium.

Source: Brock Badgers

Mustangs close out regular season with win over visiting Marauders

LONDON, Ont – Eric McDonald finished his Mustangs career in impressive fashion on Saturday, scoring a season-high 15 points to help lead Western to a 95-89 win over the McMaster Marauders on Senior Day at Alumni Hall.

"The first two plays of the game, Eric was right in on a layup to start us off and had a couple of steals right away. He got us off to a fast start." said head coach Brad Campbell. "He's been a key guy not only on the court for us but a very good leader and a tremendous, positive influence to our guys off the court, as well."

"This is the one night I never really wanted to come because I didn't want to leave my teammates and coaches." said McDonald on his last game. "That was one team I've always wanted to beat and I can't thank my teammates enough for giving me that one"

The Mustangs finish their regular season with a 7-13 record, placing them in third in the OUA West. However, they sit in 14th in the OUA RPI, just shy of playoff contention.

"It's obviously been a rough season and we got off to a rough start in November. We've been much better in the new year which has been great. We had a chance at the playoffs and didn't really convert down the stretch, but we had to get a bunch of wins. To go out on Senior Day and get a win at home, it's good."

McDonald was one of five Mustangs players to hit double digits on Saturday, with Omar Shiddo leading the way with 17 points. McDonald and Nikola Farkic each recorded 15, while Cam Morris and Jedson Tavernier followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Farkic and Morris led the Mustangs rebounding efforts with six apiece, followed by McDonald and Ian Smart with five each.

Rohan Boney led the Marauders with a game-high 21 points, while Lazar Kojovic scored 19 points and David McCulloch added 11. Boney also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead all players and complete the double-double.

The Mustangs were the first team out of the gate on Saturday, opening the game with an 11-2 run over the first two minutes to take an early lead. Western kept that early momentum going throughout the frame, taking a 32-20 lead after 10 minutes.

McMaster bounced back from the early deficit and began to cut into Western's lead in the second quarter, led by Gilmore who contributed seven points and three rebounds in the frame. A three pointer from Chris Thompson pulled McMaster within one in the final minute of the half, but two points from Alex Coote and a pair of free throws from McDonald sent the Mustangs into the half with a 52-47 lead.

Both teams came out of halftime ready to take the lead. Yet, every time the Marauders came within a point, the Mustangs answered back immediately with multiple baskets of their own to extend their lead once again. Western began to pull away over the last five minutes of the frame, thanks in part to a combined 13 points from McDonald and Farkic, to take a 72-60 lead at the end of the third.

The two sides traded points throughout the majority of the fourth before McMaster began to close the gap in the final few minutes, going on a 13-0 run to pull to within four, before a Kovic three-pointer narrowed Western's lead to 91-89 with a little more than 30 seconds remaining.

That would be as close as things would get, with the Mustangs closing out the game and their season with four free throws to take a 95-89 victory.

Source: Western Mustangs

Carleton completes first undefeated regular season since 2013-14

OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens men's basketball team clinched their perfect season on Saturday night, defeating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 100-36 at the Ravens' Nest for their 19th straight win. Their 64-point margin of victory matched their highest of the season, which they reached a week ago against the York Lions.

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Connor Wood (Guelph, ON) led the team with 19 points in just 22 minutes of action, hitting four triples in the opening quarter to pave the way to their sixth 100-point effort of the season.

Reilly Reid of the Varsity Blues opened up the game with two quick points on their first possession. The Ravens were unable to score their first points until the 7:42 mark of the opening quarter, when Connor Wood hit his first triple of the night to give the Ravens their first lead. Wood proceeded to hit another triple on Carleton's next possession, and it was all Ravens from that point on. Wood hit another two threes before the quarter expired, and the Ravens were up 23-7 going into the second.

The Ravens continued their offensive onslaught into the second, going on a 16-3 run early in the second to further their lead. Devin Johnson of the Varsity Blues hit triples on back-to-back possessions to stop the bleeding a little bit, but the Ravens just kept coming. Connor Wood finished the first half with 16 points, and Kaza Kajami-Keane (Ajax, ON) added seven in the second quarter to give the Ravens a comfortable 51-23 lead by half. The Ravens shot nearly 60% from the field in the opening half, moving the ball to get wide open looks for their shooters.

The Ravens came out hard on the defensive end in the third, not allowing a single field goal for U of T. They held the Varsity Blues to just four points in the quarter, all off of free throws, while they scored 27 on the other end. Ryan Ejim (Toronto, ON) scored six points in the quarter, while teammate Stanley Mayambo (Fredericton, NB) ended the third with back-to-back triples for the Ravens, putting them up 78-27 and giving them a hefty 51-point lead.

Ravens' head coach Dave Smart played his bench for the entirety of the final quarter, but the Varsity Blues still had no luck on the offensive end, again being held to single figures with just nine points. Emmanuel Owootoah (Rexdale, ON) used this time to rack up some assists, finishing with 10 in the game. Joe Rocca (Sarnia, ON) hit a triple on the Ravens' final possession to put them right at 100 points on the night.

In a match loaded with impressive Ravens' statlines, Connor Wood hit five triples en route to his game-high 19 points, adding five assists for good measure. Mayambo hit five triples off the bench for 15 points, one for every minute he played in the game. Rocca and Ejim both contributed 12 points and five rebounds, and Kajami-Keane ended with 11 points and seven assists. Last but certainly not least, Owootoah almost had a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 assists as the Ravens' backup point guard.

The Ravens hit 19 of their 36 three-point attempts (52.8%) during the game, scorching the Varsity Blues with their their red-hot shooting. With 29 assists to just 12 turnovers, the Ravens closed out the 2016-17 OUA regular season with a magnificent performance on the offensive end.

The Varsity Blues' leading scorer, Devin Johnson, was held to just eight points on 2-for-14 shooting on the night, far off from his season average of over 21 points per game. Fellow starter Reilly Reid also scored eight on the night, the two leading their team in scoring despite their off-nights.

With the win, the Ravens clinched the No.1 seed in the OUA playoffs and accomplished their first undefeated campaign since the 2013-14 season. The Ravens will play their first game of the 2017 playoffs next Saturday, where they will welcome the winner of the 8 v. 9 preliminary round game between two traditional OUA heavyweights, Windsor and McMaster, to be played on Wednesday, February 22.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Gryphons beat Warriors but fall just short of playoff berth

GUELPH, ON - It was a bitter sweet end to the 2016-17 season for the Gryphons men's basketball team on Saturday night. Despite ending their season on a winning note by earning a hard-fought 76-74 victory over the visiting Waterloo Warriors , the Gryphons ultimately fell just short of qualifying for the OUA playoffs. The top 12 teams in the OUA's RPI rankings qualify for the postseason. The Gryphons officially finished 13th.

Playing in his final game as a Gryphon, fourth year forward Ahmed Haroon (Mississauga, ON) put together a solid performance, filling up the stat sheet with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. Haroon was one of two graduating players to be honoured pre-game as part of the team's "Senior Night" ceremonies, with Martin Popiel also suiting up for the final time as a Gryphon. Whether or not those two seniors were going to be able to end their careers on a winning note was in question for much of the night. But the Gryphons, who trailed by 11 midway through the 2nd, would storm back in the 3rd quarter, using a 13-0 run to shift momentum. The Gryphons limited the Warriors to just 12 points in the 3rd quarter and took a five-point lead into the final quarter.

With :58 seconds remaining in regulation and with the game tied at 74-74, Gryphons fourth year guard Daniel Dooley would knock down a jump shot from just inside the three-point line to give the Gryphons a 76-74 lead. In the game's dying seconds, the Warriors would see a pair of jump shots hit the front rim as the Gryphons would hang on for the two-point victory.

Fourth year guard Jonathan Wallace finished with 15 points while Taylor Boers came off the bench to chip in with 9. As a team, the Gryphons shot just 1-14 from beyond the arc but had 21 points-off-turnovers (compared to just 6 for Waterloo). The Gryphons forced Waterloo into 23 turnovers on the night while committing just 10 themselves. The Gryphs finish the season with a 6-13 record.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Thunderbirds defeat Lakers in OT

The Algoma Thunderbirds men's basketball team took on the Nipissing Lakers in their final game of the season tonight in the GLC. Algoma kept it close for the 40 minutes, tying the Lakers at the close of regulation time, 70-70. Algoma edged ahead of Nipissing with just six seconds left to win, 88-87.
 
Sean Clendinning led the Thunderbirds with 31 points.
 
Algoma shot 37.5 per cent from the field and 26.8 per cent from beyond the arc.
 
Marcus Lewis earned 25 points for the Lakers.
 
Honoured in the Seniors' Night was Sean Clendinning. Tonight marked his final game sporting the red, white, and grey for the Thunderbirds. Clendinning ends his career at Algoma as the men's the all-time leading scorer with 707 points.
 
"We wanted to leave everything on the floor. We have Sean who has been great for our program, he has done a lot of things and help us get to this stage. We wanted to send him off on a good note. He's led us over the past couple of years so this was a nice way to send him off," said men's Head Coach Thomas Cory.
 
The men close out the season at 5-14 in the OUA West.

Source: Algoma Thunderbirds