M-Basketball Friday Roundup
Queen's, 50 @ Ryerson, 89 Box Score
Jahmal Jones recorded a game-high 25 points as the Ryerson Rams men's basketball team rolled to its third straight victory with a dominating 89-50 win over the Queen's Gaels on Friday night. Luke Staniscia added 19 points and five rebounds, as the Rams (5-8) have moved into a tie for fifth place with the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Gaels (2-12) are now three games back of a playoff spot and have a tough journey ahead should they wish to find themselves in the post-season picture.
"I wasn't very pleased with our first half, I don't think we played very well," said Rams Head Coach Roy Rana.
Ryerson allowed the Gaels to take a 10-2 lead in the first quarter before the offence kicked in, allowing the Rams to get back in the game. Although they picked up their shooting, the Rams weren't able to shake off the Gaels in the second quarter, holding just a five-point lead at halftime.
The Rams came out of the locker room and were able to hold Queen's to just a mere 14 points in the entire second half. Meanwhile, they recorded 46 points in the third and fourth quarters, dominating at both sides of the court.
They built a double-digit advantage by the end of the third-quarter thanks to five points from Jordon Gauthier and a couple of lay-ins down low by fellow rookie Eric Hobson. The floodgates opened in the final period for the Rams, as they would outscore the visitors 33-6 in the fourth quarter.
"Queen's just kind of packed it in," explained Rana, who believed that the result was equally a reflection of the Gaels poor performance as it was his team's play. "I don't want to get too high and think we played a great game," he said. "We were okay, and at times showed the type of energy and intensity we needed."
Ryerson controlled almost every aspect of the contest. They scored 23 points off of turnovers, compared to just eight for Queen's, and outscored them by 20 in the paint. Gauthier finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while the Hero Burger "Hero of the Game" Jones (Toronto) now sits back in the top ten of conference scoring with tonight's performance. Dan Bannister totalled a team-high 13 in response for the Gaels.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
York, 73 @ Ottawa, 68 Box Score
What was a strong first three quarters for the Gee-Gees would all be cancelled out by their final ten minutes of play which allowed York 26 points to come back from behind for the 73-68 win over the Gee-Gees.
The Gee-Gees battled through the opening quarter against the Lions and were on top by four points after the first frame. A strong defensive front in the second quarter held the Lions scoreless for almost the first five minutes while the Gee-Gees jumped to a ten point lead. York came back to challenge the garnet and grey, but the Gee-Gees turned on the offence to close the quarter with an 11 point lead.
The Lions kept up the pressure, but the Gee-Gees averaged a ten point lead for much of the third and fourth quarters. But a defensive meltdown in the fourth quarter that allowed the Lions to come back from a 14 point deficit would be the ultimate undoing of this eager Gee-Gees squad.
“We stopped running our offense, and we really, really stopped getting stops on defense,” said head coach James Derouin, “Our energy defensively went away from us completely. Our energy, everything that we have comes from our defense and you saw that from the first two quarters.”
“The offence looks bad, but it was the defense letdown that really changed the course of that game down the stretch,” concluded Derouin, “A 26-point fourth quarter is unacceptable on the defensive end.”
Third-year point guard Jacob Gibson-Bascombe, Toronto, Ont., played for almost the full 40 minutes and commented, “It’s just something that we have got to work on as a team. We have to continue to maintain focus for a full fourth quarter. You can’t play for three and a half quarters or three quarters. You have to try to maintain focus throughout the entire game and I feel like as the team goes along, we’ll get better at that.”
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
Laurentian, 63 @ Carleton, 111 Box Score
The No. 1 Carleton University Ravens had another strong win Friday night, defeating the Laurentian University Voyageurs 111-63 at the Nest.
It didn’t take long for the home team to take control of the court, going up by as much as 17 in the first.
The men continued to stretch the deficit in the second, making it a 30-point game before the halftime break.
Tyson Hinz (Ottawa) and Elliot Thompson (Fredericton) hit double figures in the first half, grabbing 16 and 10 points respectively.
The Voyageurs had some success with their shots in the third, but the Ravens were able to hold on to their 30-point lead in the last minute of play with a two from Kyle Smendziuk (Kanata, Ont.).
The Ravens made an impressive run in the fourth, grabbing 33 points in comparison to the Voyageurs’ 15. After hitting the century mark with minutes to go before the final buzzer, the Ravens made it a 50-point game.
The final saw the Ravens take their 13th straight win and hold on to their spotless record.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
RMC, 44 @ Toronto, 117 Box Score
The No. 10 Varsity Blues men’s basketball team hit triple digits for the fourth time this season, handily defeating the RMC Paladins 117-44 on Friday, January 21 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues first reached the 100-point mark in non-conference action on Oct. 8 versus the Guelph Phoenix (119-110) and again in a 100-79 win over the Regina Cougars on Oct. 14. Toronto also defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers 101-60 at the Ryerson National Invitational Tournament.
With the win, the Blues improve to 9-4 and remain in second place in the OUA East division.
Hamilton, Ont., native Arun Kumar was 9-of-12 from beyond the arc and recorded a career-high 29 points on the night. Second-year forward Alex Hill of Toronto also held a hot hand with 25 points, while Holland Landing, Ont., native Ben Garvin tallied 17 points. Andrew Wasik of Burnaby, B.C., recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards with Tevin Manherz-Dennis adding 10 of his own in the win.
Jonathan Wilson of Windsor, Ont., tallied 17 of RMC’s 44 points and added a team-high eight boards. Connor Duke added eight points in the loss.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Lakehead, 78 @ McMaster, 76 Box Score
Jamie Searle did what it took down the stretch to ensure that Lakehead would get the win over McMaster, 78-76, and continue to challenge Windsor for top spot in the OUA West, as Lakehead now sits at 10-3, 2 points behind the #7 nationally ranked Lancers.
Searle (Belleville, ON) shot efficiently and hit when Lakehead needed him to late in the game as he scored 29 points on 64% shooting (6-7 FT). He also collected 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. He got help down low from Yoosrie Salhia (Toronto, ON), who went 5 0f 6 for 11 points and 8 rebounds. As a team Lakehead shot 48% from 3 point land (12-25), but struggled from the free throw line (36%, 8-22), and was out-rebounded 43-34 by the Marauders.
McMaster got scoring from Scott Laws and Cam Michaud, who had 19 and 17, respectively. They also got some clutch 2nd half three point shooting from Kyle Geidraitis, who hit 3 of his 4 attempts in the 2nd half. Kenan Etale led in rebounding with 11, while the 6'9" transfer from Boston U, Scott Brittain, was limited to 9 points and 7 rebounds, and was involved in a game changing play with only a few minutes remaining in the game.
With Lakehead holding onto a slim lead, LU's Greg Carter hoisted a shot that went long and came down into the hands of Scott Brittain and Yoosrie Salhia, with both players trying to rip the ball free. In the mix-up, Brittain went down and struck his head on the floor, causing much concern for everyone there, as Brittain had sat out a lot of time pre-Christmas due to a concussion. As the play concluded, Marauder Scott Laws accosted Salhia on the court, resulting in a technical foul against Laws. Jamie Searle coolly sunk 2 free throws to make the LU lead 4.
In the final minute of play with the score tied, Salhia scored while being fouled with 10 seconds remaining. He missed the ensuing free throw, and despite getting the rebound, Lakehead did not elect to run out the clock, but shot again. This time, McMaster got the rebound, and got it to Scott Laws going up the sideline, who was fouled with 1.2 seconds left. Laws, however, was unable to redeem himself at the line as he missed the first free throw, and after intentionally missing the second throw, the ball was secured by LU.
Source: Lakehead Sports Info
