OUA Men's Basketball Roundup (Oct. 30)
October 25, 2017
Western 53 Brock 83
The Brock University men's basketball team open the OUA regular season with a 83–53 victory over the Western Mustangs Wednesday night in front of a sold out crowd for the fourth straight season inside the Bob Davis Gymnasium
Brock jumped out to an early 12–0 lead in the opening four minutes and held a 19-11 lead after one quarter. Brock extended that lead to 16 points leading 43-27 at the half.
The two teams would play an even third quarter, before Brock put together a 15-8 run to close out the contest for their eighth win of the season.
The Badgers had three players in double figures led by Cassidy Ryan who finished with 22 points and six rebounds. Dani Elgadi recorded the double-double adding 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also collected five assists, three blocks and three steals. Cascius Small-Martin recorded a career high 11 points, including going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Johneil Simpson and Tyler Brown both added nine points each in the victory.
For the game, the Badgers shot 32-for-59 (54.2%), 9-for-26 (34.6%) from three-point land and 10-for-14 from the charity stripe. Western shot just (28.4%) 19-for-67 from the floor, (20.7%) 6-for-29 from beyond the arc and (56.0%) 14-for-25 from the free-throw line.
Source: Brock Badgers
Guelph 79 McMaster 84
McMaster men's basketball coach Patrick Tatham began his OUA season in the win column, following an 84-79 victory over the Guelph Gryphons in the league opener Wednesday night.
The Marauders made great use of the home court advantage early as Miles Seward would make a pair of three-pointers to get the crowd cheering inside Burridge Gym.
McMaster got out to an early lead and led 26-17 after the opening quarter, but the Gryphons would battle back. Shooting over 60% from beyond the three-point line in the second quarter, Guelph turned things around to finish the half holding onto a lead of 45-40.
Following halftime, the Marauders would lean on the shooting of Danylo Kostecki and Sasha Simic to regain the advantage. Kostecki shot 5-of-9 on the day and finished the night with 14 points, while Simic would come off the bench to shoot four of six from three-point range, finishing the game with 11 points.
Seward knocked down two consecutive treys to key a Mac run in the third quarter, and would finish with a team-leading 23 points.
The Gryphons would make a late push to take back the lead, but they came up short as Marauder guard Kareem Collins managed the clock in the final minutes to help secure the victory for McMaster as they embark on their OUA season.
Guelph's Daniel Dooley made his best effort to steal a win on the road, as he would finish the game with a 17-point performance, to go along with four assists. Dooley showed his ability from beyond the arc as he made 83% of his shots from three-point land.
Source: McMaster Marauders
October 27, 2017
Ryerson 84 Algoma 58
Kicking off their season on the road, the Rams were looking to make a statement straight out of the gate. The team enters the 2017-2018 season as back-to-back defending OUA Champions. Focused on building on that success rather than relying on it, opening the season on top - particularly on the road - was a key step for the team.
The first half would prove a worrisome back and forth as the teams vied for early dominance. Having only managed seven points against Ryerson’s 17 in the first quarter, the Thunderbirds took a bold and aggressive turn in the second quarter. With a strong offensive output by Jermaine Lyle (Kitchener, Ont.), they would score 21 points to bring the tally to 35-28 for the Rams at halftime.
Returning from halftime revitalized, the Rams would match the 21-point output of Algoma in the third quarter and outdo it with a 30-point fourth quarter. Equally strong was the defensive play of the Rams, as they nearly doubled the defensive rebound tally of the Thunderbirds 30 to 16. This kept Algoma off of the scoreboard while allowing the Rams to continue to build a lead before the final buzzer saw them take the win.
While the match gave fans a first glimpse at the new full Rams lineup, it also marked the regular season debuts of multiple highly touted recruits. Zubair Seyed (Cambridge, Ont.) and Liam O’Leary-Orange (Toronto, Ont.) impressed with six and 10 points, respectively. However, it was 7’2 phenom Tanor Ngom (Dakar, Senegal) who truly made is arrival to the OUA known with 13 points, six blocks, eight rebounds, and a steal.
Source: Ryerson Rams
Lakehead 68 Queen’s 95
The Queen's Gaels (1-0) opened their season beating the Lakehead Thunderwolves (0-1) 95-68 at the Queen's ARC on Friday night in OUA men's basketball.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels started the game with a pull-up 3-pointer by Jaz Bains(Brampton, Ont.) who transferred to Queen's after a successful few seasons with the OCAA's St. Lawrence Vikings. The Tricolour also started with strong interior defence, not allowing the Thunderwolves to enter the paint for any easy attempts. Another quick three by Bains forced the Thunderwolves into a timeout at the mid-way point of the first quarter. Lock-down interior defence by Tanner Graham(Kingston, Ont.) forced Lakehead into bad jump-shot attempts, frustrating the opponent and opening up scoring opportunities for Queen's down the floor.
The Gaels finished out the first quarter leading the Thunderwovles 26-13.
Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, Ont.) got the ball rolling for the Gaels in the second, scoring off a beautiful screen-and-roll, and playing excellent interior defence. Matt Elock (Waterdown, Ont.) and Sammy Ayisi (Ajax, Ont.) rode the momentum, each nailing a three early in the second. The Gaels offence could not be stopped, finding creases and openings in the Lakehead defence. Late in the second, Bains and Ayisi each scored impressive fast-break points, to erupt the crowd. At this point, the Gaels were an offensive freight train, showing Lakehead it can score, however, and wherever they wanted. The Gaels closed the half with a big lead, 51-26.
The Tricolour started the second half with a pair of mid-range jump shots by Bains, but he showed off his passing skills too with a no-look feed to Harry Range (Ottawa) for a basket down-low. Tanner Graham, once again, fighting down-low for rebounds and blocks, showed he is once again an anchor on defence. The Gaels were not selfish at all, sharing the basketball to score back-to-back assisted baskets forcing Lakehead into another timeout. The Thunderwolves managed to score to close out the third, but it was not enough to keep the game close.
The Gaels entered the final quarter leading 68-47 and good passing by Tanner Graham helped give Queen's its first basket of the final quarter. Lakehead, trying to salvage this game by playing hard defence, was still unable to handle Bains' ball handling and the overall passing of the Gaels. Even with the 30 point lead, the Gaels did not let up, with Jesse Graham (Kingston, Ont.) scoring some late-game baskets. The Gaels closed things out with a 95-68 victory.
Source: Queen's Gaels
October 28, 2017
Western 69 Waterloo 62
Eriq Jenkins and Henry Tan each scored 10 points to help lead the Western Mustangs to their first win of the regular season with a 69-62 victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon at the PAC Gym.
Western used a balanced scoring attack in the win, with each one of the players that hit the floor recording at least two points against the Warriors. Jenkins went 5-9 from the floor to record his 10 points, while Tan shot 4-7 with one three pointer to put 10 on the board for the Mustangs. Jenkins also led the Mustangs rebounding efforts with eight rebounds, followed by five from Marko Kovac.
Waterloo's Nedim Hodzic was the top scorer for the Warriors with a 17 point effort. Two other players hit double digits for the home side with 14 from Colin Connors and 13 from Justin Hardy.
A jump shot by Jenkins kicked off a 6-0 run for Western to give the Mustangs an early lead. The Warriors would begin to pull even around three minutes into the frame as Connors took advantage of a Western foul to sink three consecutive free throws to put Waterloo on the board. Things would remain even from there with the game heading into the second quarter tied at 18-18.
The game remained tied for the majority of the second with both sides going basket for basket until the final three minutes of the quarter when Waterloo created a bit of a gap for themselves, heading into the third up 40-33.
Western closed that gap in the early moments of the third, going on a 9-0 run to take a 42-40 lead. Just as they had all game, the two teams continued to be evenly matched with neither side gaining a significant advantage, with the Warriors taking a slight 51-49 lead into the fourth.
In the fourth the Mustangs took advantage of a number of Warrior turnovers to battle back, taking the lead for good on a basket from Alex Coote with a little over there minutes left in the game. The veteran forward recorded all eight of his points in the final 10 minutes, helping the Mustangs take a 69-62 win.
Source: Western Mustangs
Guelph 80 Windsor 90
The St. Denis Centre was rocking Saturday afternoon as the Windsor Lancers tipped off their 2017-18 season against the Guelph Gryphons. The Lancers were able to start off 1-0 with a 90-80 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Mike Rocca's 33-point performance.
GAME STATS
Third year guard Randy Oriakhi recorded a double-double, netting 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 23 minutes of action, while senior point guard Mike Rocca shot 50 per cent from beyond the arc, going 8/16 on the game and also hitting a double-double with 11 rebounds.
The Gryphons had five players hit double digits and were led by starter Taylor Boers with 15 points. Daniel Dooley and Aaron Nugent both hit 12 points, while Banky Alade had 11 and Andrew Grant chipped in 10.
The Gryphons held the Lancers to 42 per cent shooting while scoring on 47 per cent of their shots. Windsor finished the game with 21 assists on 82 shots while Guelph assisted only four of 71 field goal attempts.
GAME FLOW
The game started off quick with both teams trading field goals, showing all the energy and excitement you'd expect in a season opener. The Lancers were lead early by Rocca's impressive first half. Rocca shot 6/10 from three-point land and led all scorers with 23 at the half. Guelph was paced by Banky Alade who led the Gryphons in points at the half 11, shooting 5/7 from the field in 14 minutes of action. The Lancers lead 51-41 at halftime.
The third quarter started much slower and calculated with the Gryphons opening the second half on a 7-0 run to trim the lead. The Gryphon also made a concerted effort to slow the three-point barrage of Rocca, holding him to 2/6 from beyond the arc in the second half. Despite this Rocca was able to hit a dagger three with just under a minute left.
Strong interior play by Randy Oriakhi allowed the Lancers to bleed out the clock with a 90-80 lead to move to 1-0 on the young season.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Laurier 70 Brock 80
The Brock University men's basketball team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks by the score of 80–70 Saturday afternoon at the Bob Davis Gymnasium. With the victory, the Badgers extend their win streak to seven games.
The Badgers had four players in double figures led by Tyler Brown who finished with 17 points, seven steals and three assists. Dani Elgadi was one rebound shy of a double-double finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Johneil Simpson chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds while Cassidy Ryan finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Rounding out the Brock leaders were Daniel Cayer and Donald Mims who chipped in with eigtht points each in the victory.
The Golden Hawks had three players in double digits led by Ali Sow who finished with 14 points while Matthew Minutillo and Kemel Archer chipped in with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Brock shot 37.7% (26-for-69) from the field, 13.0% (3–for-23) from beyond the arc and 73.5% (25-for-34) from the charity stripe. The Golden Hawks shot 35.6% (26–for-73) from the floor, 26.5% (9–for-34) three-point range and 52.9% (9-for-17) from the free throw line.
Source: Brock Badgers
Toronto 84 Algoma 69
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team notched an 84-69 season-opening victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Saturday, October 28 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Fifth-year guard Reilly Reid led the Blues with 18 points, while third-year forward Daniel Johansson tallied 15 points and a team-high eight boards on the night.
Three other Varsity Blues hit double digits in the win. Nikola Paradina recorded 13 points, rookie Evan Shadkami notched 11 points and fourth-year guard Sage Usher had 10 points, four board, three steals and three assists.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Lakehead 79 York 90
The York University Lions men's basketball team welcomed the Lakehead Thunderwolves to the Tait McKenzie Centre Saturday for the Lions' home opener. The Lions ended up making their home crowd very happy with a 90-78 win over the Thunderwolves.
The game didn't go the Lions' way the entire time – they had to put up quite a fight for their win. The Thunderwolves asserted their dominance on the court right away, with a nine-point lead after four minutes of play, and the Lions initially struggled to adjust and catch up to them. The Lions were able to focus and gain control of the ball and they managed to tie up the score 21-21 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lions overtook the Thunderwolves in the second quarter. However, the lead was short-lived and the Thunderwolves had once again taken over the lead by the end of the quarter. Only a three-point difference separated the two teams at 42-39.
The third was the Lions' quarter. They not only caught up to the Thunderwolves, but surpassed them to finish with a 10-point lead at the end of the quarter. Heading into the fourth, the score was 68-58 in favour of the Lions. The Lions battled hard to maintain this lead and continue scoring points. They finished the game with a 12-point lead over the Thunderwolves and a final score of 90-78.
The Lions had five players in double digits and were led by third-year guard Chevon Brown with 18 points. Third-year forward Brandon Ramirez led the team in rebounds, with nine, and chipped in 13 points. Also hitting doubles digits were Josiah Riley with 14 points, Prince Kamunga with 13 and Gene Spagnuolo with 12.
Top scorer for the Thunderwolves was Nick Burke with 18 points.
Source: York Lions
