REGULAR SEASON
NORTH | CENTRAL | ||||||||
Carleton | 19-0 | 30-1 | Dave Smart | Brock | 15-4 | 22-6 | Charles Kissi | ||
Ottawa | 16-3 | 26-6 | James Derouin | McMaster | 8-11 | 17-12 | Amos Connolly | ||
Nipissing | 9-10 | 16-14 | Chris Cheng | Lakehead | 6-13 | 10-21 | Manny Furtado | ||
Laurentian | 9-10 | 11-15 | Shawn Swords | Guelph | 6-13 | 10-17 | Chris O’Rourke | ||
EAST | WEST | ||||||||
Ryerson | 17-2 | 24-5 | Roy Rana | Windsor | 10-10 | 15-12 | Chris Oliver | ||
Toronto | 11-8 | 15-12 | John Campbell | Wilfrid Laurier | 9-11 | 13-17 | Justin Serresse | ||
Queen’s | 7-12 | 10-20 | Stephan Barre | Western | 7-13 | 9-18 | Brad Campbell | ||
York | 4-15 | 4-20 | Tom Oliveri | Waterloo | 6-14 | 8-17 | Justin Gunter | ||
Algoma | 5-15 | 6-21 | Thomas Cory | ||||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Algoma Thunderbirds: Nikola Zorcic, Elijah Butler, Jacob Clendinning, Mithun Jaisankar, Nathan Riley, Adam Benrabah, Cailum White, Sean Clendinning, Taylor Smith, Reng Gum, Nicholas Palazzi, Jermaine Lyle, Brandon Dwyer, Nicholas Gehlen, Damian Okungbowa, coach Thomas Cory, assistant Clayton Cain, assistant Pat Murray, assistant Kirk Reid, manager Garnet Cory
Guelph Gryphons: Daniel Dooley, Jonathan Wallace, Jordan Sobot, Taylor Boers, Craig Valeriote, Drew Clause-Walford, Kingslee D’Silva, Andrew Grant, Kieran Naus, Aaron Nugent, Tommy Yanchus, Martin Popiel, Bakole Alade, Shawn Carey, Colin Corrigan, Ahmed Haroon, Nathan Klassen, Jake Chaput, Luke Nelson, coach Chris O’Rourke, assistant Nick Pankerichan, assistant Konrad Surma, assistant Nick Rusich, assistant Jack Beatty, trainer Emily Carr, trainer Rachel King, analytics Allan Zhang, analytics Michael O’Rourke, strength & conditioning Josh Ford
Waterloo Warriors: Jon Ravenhorst, Simon Petrov, Jesse Figueiredo, Dylan Phillips, Ben Davis, Fadi Elgadi, David Bajic, Kristian Vande Kemp, Korbil Gany, Zachary Marchildon, Muhammad Anwar, David Ramon-Prados, Mike Pereira, Justin Hardy, Ryan Trottier, Nedim Hodzic, Colin Connors, coach Justin Gunter, assistant Troy Stevenson, assistant Bob Urosevic, assistant Darren Bondy, assistant Scott James, director of operations Brandon Brock, manager Charles Song, student therapist Brandon Chang, student therapist Andie Dueck
Western Mustangs: Tyler Thomson, Dominic Clayton, Alex Coote, Jedson Tavernier, Eriq Jenkins, Eric McDonald, Luca Petkovic, Omar Shiddo, Ian Smart, Chris Fitzgerald, Alex Otzyv, Nikola Farkic, Daniil Shesterinin, coach Brad Campbell, associate John Curcio, assistant Mo Haider, assistant Joel Delcarmen, manager Waeel Khalife, video coordinator Jensen Sham, graduate assistant Quinn Henderson, graduate assistant Igor Stjepanovic, trainer Anthony Dacosta
York Lions: Matthew Carating, Hassan Adenola, Yaw Antwi-Boasiako, Gehrig Carlse, Julio Vazquez, Ammar Hassan, Nidun Chandrakumar, Jayden Frederick, Tobi Adelodum, Nana Adu-Poku, Brandon Ramirez, George Ivens, Yonathan Ghebrekeristos, Michael Angenent, Jake Houzer, Janath Kumar, Gianmarco Luciani, Malik McDonald, Stefano Spagnuolo, Nate Williams, coach Tom Oliveri, associate Gerard Carlse, assistant Anthony Atletico, assistant Menelik Fernandes, student therapist Aleisha Wagner, assistant student therapist Sydney Hassoun
Seeds were determined by Rating Percentage Index involving games between OUA teams.
In the opening round, 5th-seeded Toronto clocked 12th-seeded Lakehead 82-61 after leading 23-25, 45-32 and 59-46 at the quarters. The win was Toronto’s first in the playoffs since 2009 and coach John Campbell’s first in four seasons at the helm. The Blues hit their first five shots and quickly got Thunderwolves all-star Bacarius Dinkins in foul trouble. The Blues defence prevented Lakehead from every achieving a measure of offensive rhythm. “We had a lot of different things happen throughout the year but our guys kept fighting and competing through it all. I’m really proud of them and they should be too,” said Lakehead coach Manny Furtado. Devin Johnson paced the Blues with 18 on 5-13 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 8-8 from the line and 12 boards. Daniel Johansson added 13 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Reilly Reid notched 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-8 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Sage Usher scored 9 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Manny Sahota added 8 on 4-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Christopher Barrett scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, and 2 assists. Nikola Paradina added 5 on 2-4 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Chase Ruttenberg scored 5 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Kwasi Oti-Awere added 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 2 boards, while Seun Olutogun, Dillon Rejman and Nicholas Morris were scoreless. The Blues hit 28-57 (.491) from the floor, 5-19 (.263) from the arc and 21-31 (.677) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks, 10 turnovers and 18 fouls. Kache Kopec paced the Thunderwolves with 18 on 7-15 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 0-1 from the line and 3 boards. Bacarius Dinkins added 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 5-7 from the line, and 10 boards. Mor Menashe notched 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Alexandre Robichaud added 8 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Nick Burke scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Nahshon Hurst added 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-4 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists, while Holelsky (Mike) Theodore, Wais Mohamed, Michael Poirier, Kingsley Campbell-Olsen, Kyle Estalilla and Jack Bull were scoreless. The Thunderwolves hit 22-65 (.338) from the floor, 6-27 (.222) from the arc and 11-25 (.440) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 7 steals, 1 block, 13 turnovers and 22 fouls. The Thunderwolves (coach Manny Furtado, assistant Kyle Tang) also included Quincy Johnson, Henry Tan, Jon Hayter, Tarik Smith-James, Taysean Cavaliers, Darnell Curtin, Antony Flores and Noel Jones. …………………………………………………… Ninth-seeded McMaster stunned 8th-seeded host Windsor 71-63 after leading 16-12, 31-28 and 48-45 at the quarters. The win avenged an overtime loss to the Lancers in the last week of the regular season. The Lancers knotted the score at 50 in the final quarter but Ronan Boney responded with 7 unanswered points to ignite a decisive 17-4 McMaster run. Connor Gilmore paced the Marauders with 17 on 4-16 from the floor, 3-10 from the arc, 6-6 from the line and 6 boards. David McCulloch scored 17 on 6-19 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 10 boards and 5 assists. Rohan Boney notched 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 4-7 from the line, 13 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Elliot Ormond added 6 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4 boards and 2 steals. Lazar Kojovic added 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Matt Quiring scored 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 6 boards. Chris Thompson added 3 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Marko Grahovac added 2, along with 2 boards, while Andre Toic was scoreless. The Marauders hit 25-70 (.357) from the floor, 7-27 (.259) from the arc and 14-20 (.700) from the line, while garnering 56 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 4 steals, 5 blocks, 14 turnovers and 14 fouls. Mike Rocca paced the Lancers with 17 on 7-16 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 9 boards and 4 assists. Micqueel Martin added 13 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Mitch Farrell notched 7 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Luke Allin added 6 on 2-14 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 7 boards. Anthony Zrvnar scored 6 on 2-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 3 boards. Tyler Persaud added 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 5 boards. Randy Oriakhi added 4 on 2-3 from the floor and Damian Persaud 4 on 2-2 from the floor, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Lucas Orlita was scoreless while nabbing 3 boards. The Lancers hit 24-74 (.324) from the floor, 6-34 (.176) from the arc and 9-9 from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 7 steals, 6 blocks, 9 turnovers and 18 fouls. The Lancers (coach Chris Oliver, assistant Matt Devin, assistant Steve Carey, recruiting coordinator Barry Amlin) also included Vincenzo Caccavo, Chris Poloniato, Macaul Reiner, Lukas Wood, Pim Hurkmans and Oluwasevi Akinlade. …………………………………………………… Sixth-seeded Nipissing edged 11th-seeded Queen’s 77-74 after leading 22-13, 43-27 and 68-48 at the quarters. The Gaels staged an enormous fourth-quarter rally, ripping off an 18-6 run to open the final frame and drawing within three on a layup by Isse Ibrahim with 29 seconds to play. An attempted trey at the buzzer rimmed out. Justin Shaver paced the Lakers with 17 on 8-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Jaaden Lewis added 15 on 7-13 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 4 assists. Marcus Lewis notched 12 on 5-16 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 7 assists. Marvin Ngonadi added 10 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Addy Ogunye scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Jordan Campbell added 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 3 assists. Ismael Kaba scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 6 assists. Justin Hill added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards. Jerron Rhodes added 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 2 boards and 4 assists, while Jordan Roberts, Kalil Langston and Christian Casimier were scoreless. The Lakers hit 32-66 (.485) from the floor, 7-20 (.350) from the arc and 6-10 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 27 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 14 turnovers and 20 fouls. Sukhpreet Singh led the Gaels with 31 on 10-21 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 10-13 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Isse Ibrahim added 12 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Jesse Graham added 9 on 2-6 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 5 boards. Russell Winters notched 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 8 boards. Tanner Graham scored 6 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Vincent Wood added 6 on 3-5 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc. Sammy Ayisi added 2 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists, while Harry Range, Richard Iheadindu and Mike Blumel were scoreless. The Gaels hit 24-64 (.375) from the floor, 2-16 (.125) from the arc and 24-30 (.800) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 7 steals, 6 blocks, 10 turnovers and 14 fouls. Queen’s (coach Stephan Barrie, assistant Jermaine Small, assistant C.J. Crocco, strength & conditioning Colin McAuslan, therapy coordinator Vicky Wiltshire, recruitment coordinator Alex Dominato, retention coordinator Sara Ali) also included Isaiah Wilson, Zac Smith, Henry Van Herk, Martin Kulinich, Ross Vrana-Godwin, Landon Brickenden, Mike Blumel, Kris Rotterman, Michael Ogoms and Mike Shoveller. …………………………………………………… In the last opening round match, 7th-seeded Laurentian dumped 11th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier 88-72 after leading 21-11, 38-29 and 62-53 at the quarters. The Voyageurs effectively attacked the paint and their transition game kept the Golden Hawks off-balance. Kadre Gray paced the Voyageurs with 26 on 10-15 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. David Aromolaran added 23 on 9-16 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Nelson Yengue added 14 on 6-12 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 10 boards and 3 assists. O.J. Watson notched 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 7 boards. Anthony Iacoe scored 8 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Joseph Sykes added 4 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Theo Thomas scored 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards, while J.D. West and Josis Mikia-Thomas were scoreless. The Voyageurs hit 32-62 (.516) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 20-22 (.909) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 16 turnovers and 17 fouls. Tevaun Kokko paced the Golden Hawks with 24 on 9-20 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Vlad Matovic added 13 on 5-14 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Chuder Teny scored 1 1on 4-11 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 3 assists. Ntore Habimana added 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4 boards. Shamar Burrows added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 5 boards and 3 steals. Owen Coulthard scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Ivan Bilandzic added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 4 boards and Matthew Minutillo 2 on 2-3 from the line and 4 boards, while Matt Chesson was scoreless and nabbed 2 boards. The Golden Hawks hit 27-76 (.355) from the floor, 8-20 (.400) from the arc and 10-14 (.714) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, 7 turnovers and 20 fouls. The Golden Hawks (coach Justin Serresse, assistant Jamie Campbell, assistant William Coulthard, player development Fred Perry, apprentice and scout Ahmad El-osta, scout and recruiter John Hood, manager Daniella Orsi, student trainer Rebecca Linger, GTA scout Ben Blanc, GTA scout Brandon Emanuel) also included Sydney Davis, Nicholas Broady, Navraj Randhawa, Joseph Fo and Simon Polan-Couillard.
In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Carleton dusted 9th-seeded McMaster 89-50. Basketball coaches will tell you that it’s the time of the year when teams simply have to impose their will on opponents. The postseason playoffs, after all, leave no room for half-measures or wallflowers. The Ravens certainly complied with that dictum, leading 19-11, 42-26 and 69-36 at the quarters. McMaster was plagued by Carleton hands in their faces, a reluctance to shoot, as well as the dazzling tempo and floor management, and ball distribution, of Ravens point guard Kaza Kajami-Keane, who’s become a hardcourt Picasso. Carleton led by as many as 39. “We tried to keep up a fast pace to try and get them tired. I guess it worked,” Kajami-Keane told PostMedia. “It you’re not used to that tempo, it just hits you in the face,” said McMaster coach Amos Connolly. Connor Wood paced the Ravens with 17 on 6-8 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Kaza Kajami-Keane added 16 on 6-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 2 boards and 9 assists. Joe Rocca notched 12 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 7 boards and 3 steals. Eddie Ekiyor scored 10 on 5-6 from the floor and 6 boards. Ryan Ejim added 10 on 5-8 from the floor and 2 boards. Mitch Wood notched 8 on 4-4 from the floor and 3 boards. Emmanuel Owootoah added 7 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Mitch Jackson scored 4 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Marcus Anderson added 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Cam Smythe scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc, while T.J. Lall and Stanley Mayambo were scoreless. Mayambo nabbed 4 boards. The Ravens hit 34-64 (.531) from the floor, 7-17 (.412) from the arc and 14-19 (.737) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 12 steals, 4 blocks, 11 turnovers and 26 fouls. David McCulloch paced the Marauders with 16 on 4-14 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Lazar Kojovic added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Matt Quiring scored 7 on 2-6 from the floor and 3-6 from the line. Connor Gilmore added 6 on 1-9 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Elliot Ormond scored 6 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 2 boards. Rohan Boney notched 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 5 boards and 3 assists. Chris Thompson added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals, while Jacobus Vanderpol, Andre Toic, Marko Grahovac and Jan Hirjak were scoreless. Toic and Hirjak each nabbed 2 boards. The Marauders hit 15-54 (.278) from the floor, 3-24 (.125) from the arc an d17-29 (.586) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 4 steals, 17 turnovers and 17 fouls. The Marauders (coach Amos Connolly, general manager Rod Bynum, assistant Shawn Collins, assistant Joe Jones, assistant Tom McChesney, assistant Ray Kybartas) also included Danylo Kostecki, Braedon Brown, Rommel Calura, Chris Thompson, Karol Derech, Nathan Bruzzese, Josh Nardini, Andrew Holmes and Kwasi Adu-Poku.
Fourth-seeded Brock clocked 5th-seeded Toronto 80-59 after leading 22-18, 38-29 and 61-51 at the quarters. Brock’s bench outscored Toronto’s 40-11, while the Badgers dominated the boards. The early deficit forced Toronto to a perimeter game, but their dreary performance from the arc prevented them from making a serious charge at the Badgers. Dani Elgadi paced the Badgers with 18 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 15 bboards, 5 assists and 4 blocks. Johneil Simpson added 18 on 7-14 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Cassidy Ryan scored 18 on 8-0 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Daniel Cayer notched 8 on 4-6 from the floor, 4 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Tyler Brown added 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Trevor Thompson added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 2 boards. Ryan Bennett scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 6 boards. Nolan Mackenzie scored 2 and Michael Asemoto 2, while Mo Ismail, Mitch Saunders and Tristan Thompson were scoreless. The Badgers hit 32-60 (.533) from the floor, 3-13 (.231) from the arc and 13-18 (.722) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks, 11 turnovers and 22 fouls. Reilly Reid paced the Varsity Blues with 15 on 5-14 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Devin Johnson added 14 on 4-19 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 5-6 from the line and 6 boards. Daniel Johansson notched 7 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Manny Sahota added 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 3 steals. Sage Usher scored 6 on 2-9 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Kwasi Oti-Awere added 6 on 1-4 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Nikola Paradina added 3, along with 2 boards, and Christopher Barrett 2, while Oluwaseun Olutogun, Dillon Rejman, Nicholas Morris and Chase Ruttenberg were scoreless. The Varsity Blues hit 20-67 (.299) from the floor, 4-22 (.182) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 10 turnovers and 18 fouls. The Varsity Blues (coach John Campbell, assistant Mike De Giorgio, assistant John Clara, assistant Ryan Robinet, assistant Nick Snow, assistant Yoosrie Salhia, strength & conditioning Adrian Lightowler, strength & conditioning assistant Marcus Yolevski, therapist Nirtal Shah, student therapist Stefan Diconza, student therapist Andrew Abesamis, student therapist Nick Monteiro) also included Kelan McConnell, Devante Brown, Jawara Pedican and Wilson Torres.
The 2nd-seeded Gee-Gees jammed a shovel full of treys (12) and headlock defence down the throats of 7th-seed Laurentian while rolling to a 93-81 win. The Gee-Gees ball pressure was exceptional, while Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles quickly established his superiority in the post as uOttawa broke to an 11-4 lead. But the open looks stopped dropping and the Voyageurs kept attacking off the dribble as they rallied with an 8-0 run. The Gee-Gees countered with an 11-0 run ignited by steals for runouts from Caleb Agada and Calvin Epistola, an acrobatic drive by Agada and a trey by Epistola to take a 22-12 lead after a quarter. With Agada taking total command of the floor, while collecting ridiculously acrobatic bucket after bucket, the Gee-Gees soon had the lead at 16 and only a periodic jumper by projected OUA rookie of the year Kadre Gray, and a few frightful foul calls, kept the Voyageurs vaguely within reach, at 43-29, heading into the lockers. Matt Plunkett buried Voyageur comeback hopes with a trio from beyond the arc early in the second half. The Gees led by as many as 24 before easing off the pedal down the stretch. Agada told PostMedia that the team’s defensive intensity proved the difference. “That was the plan. The second half, though, we were a little slow.” Gee-Gees coach James Derouin was elated with his troop’s ball pressure and aggressiveness. “We left our guys on an island against Kadre and said if he scores, let’s let nobody else beat us basically and I thought for the most part we did that.” Laurentian coach Shawn Swords said uOttawa did a “good job of loading their defence, which caused us to dribble much into the center, rather than swing it around outside and get the open shot were looking for.” Adam Presutti said “that was a great feeling for us because we have had some trouble in the third quarter. The big thing was the first three minutes defensively we got stops.” Derouin said “when you play Laurentian and you play Shawn [Swords] they are going to give it to you for forty minutes – they are press you and they are going to foul you and do whatever it takes to get a win. You know that coming in and I think our guys remained composed: that’s experience. … Our team defence was excellent. We left our guys pretty much on an island against Kadre. Let’s be honest, he’s impressive. But we made sure no one else beat us.” Matt Plunkett paced the Gee-Gees with 21 on 6-9 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 2 steals. Caleb Agada added 16 on 7-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles notched 15 on 6-7 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 7 boards. Adam Presutti scored 11 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Calvin Epistola added 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Gage Sabean scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 2-3 from the line. Brandon Robinson added 5 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Brody Maracle scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the line, 7 boards and 4 assists. Mackenzie Morrison added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 boards, while Malick Turenne was scoreless. The Gee-Gees hit 31-60 (.517) from the floor, 12-26 (.462) from the arc and 19-29 (.655) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 8 steals, 9 blocks, 15 turnovers and 23 fouls. Kadre Gray led the Voyageurs with 39 on 11-26 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 15-15 from the line, 9 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Anthony Iacoe added 14 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. David Aromolaran notched 13 on 5-18 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 8 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Nelson Yengue notched 4 on 2-8 from the floor and 2 boards. O.J. Watson scored 4 on 2-9 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 5 boards. J.D. West added 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Theo Thomas added 2, along with 3 boards and Joseph Sykes 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-3 from the line and 7 boards. The Voyageurs hit 28-80 (.350) from the floor, 6-18 (.333) from the arc and 19-23 (.826) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 23 on the offensive glass, 10 assists,5 steals, 3 blocks, 13 turnovers and 23 fouls. The Voyageurs (coached by Shawn Swords, assisted by Aaron Sidenberg and Ken Wallenius) also included Samuel Ivey, Darcy Watt, Litha Ncanisa, Elijah Davidson, Mustafa Abdi, Stefan Simpson, Juac Aguer, Skylar Cornell and Josis Thomas.
In the last quarterfinal, 3rd-seeded Ryerson dumped 6th-seeded Nipissing 87-62 after leading 19-17, 51-36 and 71-47 at the quarters. The Rams broke open the affair with a decisive 17-6 run to close out the first half. Ammanuel Diressa paced the Rams with 22 on 9-23 from the floor, 3-14 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Filip Vujadinovic added 20 on 8-13 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 3 boards. Myles Charvis notched 14 on 5-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 2 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Adika Peter-McNeilly scored 13 on 3-14 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 9 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. Roshane Roberts added 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Adam Voll added 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 6 boards. Chase Vassell notched 2 on 0-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Keevon Small added 2 and Warsame Mohamed 2, while Juwon Grannum was scoreless and nabbed 2 boards. The Rams hit 32-77 (.416) from the floor, 11-45 (.244) from the arc and 12-13 (.923) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 13 steals, 3 blocks, 11 turnovers and 14 fouls. Marcus Lewis paced the Lakers with 13 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 9 boards and 2 steals. Jaaden Lewis added 11 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 6 boards. Marvin Ngonadi added 8 on 2-3 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Justin Hill scored 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Jordon Campbell added 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Justin Shaver added 5 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 14 boards. Addy Ogunye notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 5 boards. Ismael Kaba scored 3 on 1-6 from the arc. Kalil Langston added 3 on 1-4 from the arc. Christian Casimier scored 2, while Jerron Rhodes was scoreless and pilfered 2 balls. The Lakers hit 20-62 (.323) from the floor, 5-29 (.172) from the arc and 17-18 (.944) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 6 steals, 1 block, 25 turnovers and 12 fouls. The Lakers (coached by Chris Cheng, assisted by Justin Bell, Stephen Hong, student assistant coach Isaac Shin, strength & conditioning coach Matt Blanchard, student trainer Benjamin Hawkins, student trainer Andrew Young) also included Shandon Ashitei, Kasey Paul-Buzas, Jordan Roberts, Ismael Kaba, Justin Hill, Quintin Ashitei and Dexter Bullen.
In the semi-finals, the top-seeded
and top-ranked Carleton Ravens earned their 20th (and 15th consecutive) berth
in a national draw by dusting the 4th-seeded-and-ranked Brock Badgers 89-64 at
the Raven’s Nest while relying on old stalwarts: boardwork and defence. Both
Carleton and Brock looked ragged and tense early but the Ravens quickly clamped
down on defence, began to dominate the boards and eventually rode a pair of
treys from Marcus Anderson to a 16-9 lead after a quarter. With Brock double-or-triple-teaming
Connor Wood on the perimeter, the Ravens continued to look unfocused on
offence, while Johneil Simpson nailed three late treys to keep the Badgers
within reach at the half. Still, the Ravens took a 36-26 lead into the lockers
as Kaza Kajami-Keane began attacking off the dribble and drawing fouls, while
Anderson continued to make his imprimatur, almost notching a double-double,
with 9 points and 9 boards, in the first half alone. Kajami-Keane took command
in the second half, while the Ravens simply outclassed the Badgers on boards as
they slowly extended their lead and pulled away down the stretch. Anderson told
PostMedia that the Ravens spacing and boardwork generated a lot of
second-chance opportunities. “And my veterans tell me to get out there and
shoot the ball, so I space and shoot the ball.” Kajami-Keane said the boardwork
of Ryan Ejim, Eddie Ekiyor and Anderson turned the tide. “On offence, we can
get better.” Ravens coach Dave Smart mused “if you defend, then it’s easier to
rebound and I thought we did a decent job defensively and got ourselves in
positions where we weren’t in help situations, where it’s hard to rebound.”
Badgers coach Charles Kissi said his troops struggled with Carleton’s physicality.
“Carleton’s physical and they get away with being physical and they’ve won
numerous national championships being the most physical team in the country and
you can’t complain about it. You just have to be as physical if not more.”
Kajami-Keane said ““I didn’t shoot the ball very well to begin the game. I just
kept on playing my game, getting my teammates involved – that’s what Carleton
basketball is all about.” Anderson noted that “we knew they were going to come
out hard. They weren’t going to quit, so we just had to keep on coming. … I
work on my shot all the time. I knew it might be our last game of the season,
and they told me to shoot it, so I did. … We knew if we kept (Elgadi) off the
boards and played him physical, we would have a good chance of winning the game.”
said Anderson. Kajami-Keane was chosen player of the game for the Ravens after
scoring 25 on 7-18 from the floor, 3-11 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 11
boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Marcus Anderson added 19 on 7-13 from the
floor, 5-8 from the arc, 12 boards, 2 assists and 4 steals. Connor Wood notched
15 on 5-15 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 4 boards and 4
assists. Joe Rocca scored 9 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 3-4
from the line. Eddie Ekiyor scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 9 boards.
Emmanuel Owootoah added 6 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-6 from the
line, 3 boards and 4 steals. Cam Smythe notched 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2
from the arc and 3 boards. Ryan Ejim added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-2 from
the line and 3 boards, while T.J. Lall, Mitch Wood and Stanley Mayambo were
scoreless. The Ravens hit 28-71 (.394) from the floor, 14-36 (.389) from the
arc and 19-25 (.760) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 19 on
the offensive glass, 15 assists, 15 steals, 1 block, 14 turnovers and 19 fouls.
Johneil Simpson paced the Badgers with 24 on 9-16 from the floor, 5-8 from the
arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 blocks. Trevor Thompson added 9 on 3-4 from the
floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Cassidy Ryan added 9 on 3-7 from
the floor, 3-4 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Mo Ismail notched 6 on
2-2 from the arc. Daniel Cayer scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc
and 2 boards. Dani Elgadi added 5 on 0-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 5-6
from the line, 7 boards and 4 assists. Tyler Brown scored 2 on 1-8 from the floor,
0-3 from the arc, 3 boards and 3 assists. Nolan Mackenzie scored 2 on 2-2 from
the line. Mitch Saunders added 2, while Ryan Bennett, Michael Asemoto and
Tristan Thompson were scoreless. Bennett nabbed 4 boards and Asemoto 2. The
Badgers hit 21-53 (.396) from the floor, 9-21 (.429) from the arc and 13-23
(.565) from the line, while garnering 23 boards, including 3 on the offensive
glass, 12 assists, 6 steals, 4 blocks, 19 turnovers and 20 fouls.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded and 2nd-ranked
Ryerson Rams earned their 5th (and 3rd-consecutive) appearance at the national
championships after nipping the 3rd-seeded-and-ranked uOttawa Gee-Gees 76-75. The
Gee-Gees offence looked out-of-sync early but Matt Plunkett drained a trio from
beyond the arc as uOttawa took an 18-15 lead after a quarter. Caleb Agada began
effectively attacking off the dribble as the Gee-Gees built a nine-point lead
in the second quarter before the Rams closed out the half with a 12-2 run bookended
by treys from Juwon Grannum and Myles Charvis to take a 35-34 lead into the
lockers and to lead 59-52 after three quarters. The Gee-Gees aggressiveness on
the offensive glass allowed them to gain a measure of separation as they took a
69-64 lead with three minutes to play. But Ammanuel Diressa took command,
rallying the Rams back to within one before Grannum nailed the winner from 15
feet with 47 seconds to play. “We didn’t want to lose this and put ourselves at
risk at not making nationals,” Diressa told PostMedia. “We just played hard and
were really resilient.” Rams coach Roy Rana called it “a classic. And a lot of
kids really stepped up when we needed it.” Gee-Gees coach James Derouin said “we
didn’t execute down the stretch, had some good looks but forced it a little bit
in the ball screen. We didn’t make that extra pass, didn’t trust each other.
And they made the big shot. That’s what we needed at our end.” After a trey from
Ottawa’s Caleb Agada gave the Gee-Gees a 72-66 lead with 3:45 remaining, the
Rams answered with some big buckets from Small and Diressa. Diressa finished a
nice spin move in the lane with 1:10 remaining to give Ryerson a 74-73 lead but
Agada countered with a pair of free throws. proceeded to hit two free throws to
hand the lead back to the Gee-Gees. Juwon Grannum hit the game winner when he nailed
a baseline jumper with 40 seconds remaining. Having used his length to his
advantage all night long, Small forced an Ottawa turnover with 25 seconds
remaining and the Rams killed the majority of the clock. Following a missed jumper,
with the Rams leading 76-75, Ottawa’s Brandon Robinson came charging down the
floor looking to win it for the Gee-Gees. But Adika Peter-McNeilly stood tall,
however, and blocked the attempt before seeing the clock expire and his
teammates flood the court in celebration. “The kids played hard, it’s a great
game and someone has to win,” said Derouin. “I didn’t see any contact that
warranted a foul. Every coach wants the refs not to call a foul and to let the kids
make the plays. They no-called it, Brandon’s gotta make that play and we were
one shot short tonight.” Rana said he told his troops down the stretch to just “breathe,
stay mentally focused, and don’t give up.” Diressa said about the layup that
first gave the Rams their first lead with 1:10 to play that ““I just wanted to
drive, see what the defence would give me. I was patient, I pivoted, he dropped
and I finished the layup.” With regard to Grannum’s jumper, Rana said “we elected
not to take a timeout because we knew what play we wanted to run. We got a
great look, and great players make great plays.” Diressa said of Peter McNeilly’s
final block that “Adika is huge. He’s always making those big plays for us, he’s
the captain and he is always leading by communication and example. He is always
putting his body on the line.” Diressa said “we stayed together, we played good
D. We didn’t get down on ourselves when we made mistakes, and we willed
ourselves to the win.” Rana said the win “says a lot about their character,
about who they are and their mental toughness.” Ammanuel Diressa paced the Rams
with 20 on 6-12 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 3 boards,
3 assists and 3 steals. Keevon Small added 18 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-6 from
the arc, 3-3 from the line, 3 boards and 6 steals. Juwon Grannum notched 15 on
6-11 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 6 boards. Myles Charvis added 8 on
2-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists
and 3 steals. Adika Peter-McNeilly scored 7 on 2-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the
arc, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Filip Vujadinovic added 4 on
2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 assists. Adam Voll scored 2 on 0-3
from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Roshane Roberts added 2
on 1-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 2 boards, while Shiv Padam, Chase
Vassell and Theodrose Demeke were scoreless. The Rams hit 25-60 (.417) from the
floor, 12-29 (.414) from the arc and 14-21 from the line, while garnering 25
boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 15 steals, 3 blocks, 13
turnovers and 18 fouls. Caleb Agada paced the Gee-Gees with 24 on 7-17 from the
floor, 4-8 from the arc, 6-9 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Matt
Plunkett added 15 on 5-10 from the arc, 6 boards and 2 steals. Brandon Robinson
scored 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2
steals. Adam Presutti notched 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 5
boards. Brody Maracle added 8 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5
boards. Calvin Epistola scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4
assists and 4 steals. Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles notched 4 on 1-5 from the
floor, 2-6 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists, while Mackenzie Morrison,
Gage Sabean and Andrew DeGroot were scoreless. The Gee-Gees hit 26-56 (.464)
from the floor, 13-29 (.448) from the arc and 10-17 (.588) from the line, while
garnering 31 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 8 steals,
2 blocks, 16 turnovers and 17 fouls.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded uOttawa Gee-Gees all but obliterated their chances of earning a wild card into the national draw, after falling 69-67 to the 4th-seeded Brock Badgers. Brock built a 21-18 lead after one quarter as the Gee-Gees appeared listless until coach James Derouin took a technical in a clear bid to fire up his troops. With the lethargy seeming endemic, Derouin began looking deep into his bench and found just enough of spark to draw the Gee-Gees within 38-34 at the half. The Badgers began to gain a measure a separation late in the third, building their lead to 10 after Gee-Gee all-star Caleb Agada was forced to the bench with his fourth foul. Agada returned to floor to rally the Gee-Gees within two in the final minute but Brandon Robinson missed an opportunity to force overtime by pulling the string on a jumper at the buzzer. Player of the game Cassidy Ryan told PostMedia that “I thought if I was physical, I’d draw a lot of fouls and get to the line against them.” Gee-Gees coach James Derouin thought his troops were undone by poor foul shooting, while Badgers coach Charles Kissi was elated with his team’s work ethic. “We played 40 minutes. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of guys. They battled. They worked. They defended. They were resilient.” Midway through the third quarter, Brock held a 44-43 lead before going on a 10-1 run, to take their largest lead of the game 54-44 with 1:19 left in the quarter. Ryan Bennett hit a trey to give Brock a 63-53 lead with 5:04 remaining. The Gee-Gees answered with a 9-0 run to make it a 63-62 game with two minutes remaining. But rookie Michael Asemota came off the bench and scored the next four points to put the Badgers up 67-62 with 1:11 left in the game. In the final 35 seconds, Brock held a 68-64 lead, before two foul calls against them. Ottawa’s Brandon Robinson would knock down both to make it 68-66 and then with an opportunity to tie the game, Caleb Agada would knock down just 1 of 2 two make it 68-67 with 20 second remaining. On the next possession, Brock’s Dani Elgadi was fouled off the inbound and hit 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to put Brock up 69-67. Kissi said the Badgers expected the Gee-Gees to focus on Dani Elgadi, so they concentrated on attacking through Cassidy Ryan. “I told him he was going to play a ton of minutes, and I think he did a fantastic job. He was unbelievable tonight.” Ryan said “we knew it might be our last game of the year,” said Ryan. “I just wanted to be aggressive all game.” Kissi said Tyler Brown “was a stud today”. He made some mistakes, but how do you get better if you don’t make mistakes? … There was a lot happening, a lot of distractions and things we couldn’t control. We just had to stay composed, and our guys did a good job of playing through all of it.” Ryan said, down the stretch, “I was just telling my team to stick to the script, do what coach talked about all year. If we stick to the plan, we win the game – as simple as that.” Kissi said the win was “a sign of how much we’re getting better as a program. (Elgadi) doesn’t need to consume the shots, we have other guys who can take them too. Now they can’t just load up on Elgadi anymore, and we proved that today.” Ryan said “I’ve known Caleb (Agada) for a long time, since I was young. I knew he was going to come out hard, his final game before graduating, so we just had to play him physical.” Derouin said “if we can accept all of our success, we have to accept our failure as well. Brock played a great game tonight, they played physical, they bodied us and they deserved to win it… I congratulate them, they played a great game. … It’s a tough way to end it for our three seniors, a great career for those three guys and (Agada and Plunkett) in particular. I’m proud of my guys, I’m proud of the way they completed tonight. Unfortunately, we were a free throw short.” Cassidy Ryan paced the Badgers with 19 on 6-14 from the floor, 7-7 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Tyler Brown added 13 on 4-10 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Johneil Simpson added 11 on 4-10 from the floor and 3-8 from the arc. Mo Ismail notched 7 on 3-5 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Trevor Thompson added 7 on 2-4 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Ryan Bennett scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 5 boards. Michael Asemoto added 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Dani Elgadi notched 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists, while Daniel Cayer and Nolan Mackenzie were scoreless. Cayer nabbed 5 boards, dished 2 assists and pilfered 2 balls. The Badgers hit 23-53 (.434) from the floor, 7-22 (.318) from the arc and 16-18 (.889) from the line, while garnering 23 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 6 steals, 10 turnovers and 26 fouls. Caleb Agada paced the Gee-Gees with 22 on 7-16 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 6-9 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Brandon Robinson added 14 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6-7 from the line and 2 boards. Adam Presutti notched 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 assists. Matt Plunkett added 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 8 boards. Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles added 5 on 2-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 4 boards and 3 blocks. Calvin Epistola scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Mackenzie Morrison notched 4 on 2-3 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 assists. Brody Maracle added 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 4 boards, while Malick Turenne, Gage Sabean and Andrew DeGroot were scoreless. The Gee-Gees hit 22-57 (.386) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 15-25 (.600) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks, 17 turnovers and 23 fouls. The Gee-Gees (coached by James Derouin, assisted by Ryan Barbeau, Clarence Porter, Kris Dale, strength & conditioning coach David Labentowicz, student therapist Lily Tran, varsity performance coach Joey Kwasniewski, therapist Crissy McPhee, student therapist Claudine Nafaa) also included Ryan Basso, Matthew Karnik and Tannor Steudle.
In the final, the Carleton men’s basketball Ravens were perfect no more. Suffering their first loss against Canadian competition this season, the top-seeded Ravens lost their second consecutive Ontario University Athletics Wilson Cup title bout to the 2nd-seeded Ryerson Rams, falling 86-79 in an extraordinary final featuring some of finest play ever seen on provincial hardcourts. The Rams hit an utterly ridiculous seven treys, including a pair apiece by Peter Adika-McNeilly, Adam Voll and Juwon Grannum, as they took a 21-17 lead after the first quarter. The Rams perfection from beyond the arc ended in the second frame, while Kaza Kajami-Keane began finding Eddie Ekiyor in the blocks for the Ravens. But Peter-McNeilly hit a series of tough runners to give Ryerson a 38-34 lead at the half. Kajami-Keane and Ryerson’s Ammanuel Diressa gave a clinic in savvy point guard play in the third quarter, after which Carleton led 58-54 on late treys from Connor Wood and Emmanuel Owootoah off of absolutely perfect feeds from the Raven’s playmaker. The tide swung in Ryerson’s favour when Ekiyor was whistled for an intentional foul on a Peter-McNeilly runout off a steal with four minutes to play. Diressa iced it with several exceptional plays and dishes down the stretch. “We made clutch stops, clutch baskets and came through in the end,” OUA tournament most valuable player Diressa told PostMedia. Rams coach Roy Rana called it a tremendous confidence-booster for his troops. “They played well, never gave up and kept fighting. That’s become the personality of this team.” Ravens coach Dave Smart said “they made shots. They made plays and we turned it over at some really inopportune times. They made tough shots late in shot clock. That’s what winning teams do. It is what it is. It’s another lost OUA final. … We’ve won more national championships than we’ve won OUA championships and it’s probably because, perhaps wrongly, our focus is the end of the year.” Rana said after three quarters, he told his troops “to just keep going, stick to the game plan. It’s more about that, more about execution and motivation.” Ryerson broke the stalemate by going on a 11-1 run, capped off by a pair of Peter-McNeilly free-throws to put the Rams up 70-66. Connor Wood hit his sixth triple of the game to cut the lead to one, but Ryerson went on another run, 7-0 this time, to regain control. The Ravens kept coming, led by Ekiyor who scored 5 straight to keep his team in the game, but a Diressa triple with 1:08 left on the clock put the Rams up by 8, effectively crushing the Ravens’ chances. Connor Wood hit another triple with 23 seconds left to cut the lead to five, but the Rams held on until the final buzzer. “We let them get too many one-on-one looks (at the end),” said Connor Wood. “We let them get to the rim too many times without helping on defence, and had some turnovers, mostly by myself. We gotta make sure we hold it together for all 40 minutes.” Diressa said the win was “great because it shows us that we can play in crunch time and that we don’t have to get down on each other. Just move on to the next play, we know when we get into these situations later on in the season, or next year, we can be confident that we can make plays and that guys won’t be rattled.” Rana said “every game is different. It comes down to possessions when you play good teams, and we made big shots down the stretch.” Eddie Ekiyor was chosen player of the game for Ravens. Adika Peter-McNeilly paced the Rams with 29 on 9-18 from the floor, 3-10 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 12 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Ammanuel Diressa added 24 on 8-21 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 6-10 from the line, 7 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Myles Charvis added 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Juwon Grannum added 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Adam Voll scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 6 boards and 5 blocks. Filip Vujadinovic added 5 on 2-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Roshane Roberts notched 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 0-2 from the line. Keevon Small scored 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, while Chase Vassell and Theodrose Demeke were scoreless. The Rams hit 28-64 (.438) from the floor, 14-36 (.389) from the arc and 16-24 (.667) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 12 steals, 11 blocks, 13 turnovers and 15 fouls. Connor Wood paced the Ravens with 25 on 9-17 from the floor, 7-12 from the arc and 4 boards. Eddie Ekiyor added 22 on 9-13 from the floor, 4-7 from the line, 12 boards and 3 blocks. Kaza Kajami-Keane notched 11 on 5-15 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 7 boards and 9 assists. Ryan Ejim scored 10 on 5-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the line and 7 boards. Emmanuel Owootoah added 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 assists and 2 steals. Mitch Wood scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 5 assists, while Marcus Anderson, Yasiin Joseph, Stanley Mayambo and Joe Rocca were scoreless. Rocca was 0-7 from the arc and dished 2 assists. Anderson pilfered 2 balls. The Ravens hit 31-72 (.431) from the floor, 9-29 (.310) from the arc and 8-16 from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks, 14 turnovers and 18 fouls.
After the season, Amos Connolly steps aside after seven years at the helm of the McMaster Marauders to become recruiting coordinator and player development specialist. He had a career record with the Marauders of 151-66, winning the OUA West division regular season title for three consecutive seasons between 2013 and 2016. He was named as the OUA West Coach of the Year in 2014, after leading Mac to conference bronze. Connolly was replaced by Patrick Tatham, assistant coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA’s Development League. Tatham was chosen CIS coach of the year when as interim coach of Ryerson, he steered the Rams to an OUAA crown. He’d been on one-year professional leave from Ryerson. He was an assistant at Ryerson since 2010. Tatham was a member of the coaching staff for the 2012 men’s national team, which won bronze at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in Brazil, and a member of the coaching staff for the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, where the Canadians went 5-0 in pool play and finished fourth. A graduate of Cleveland State University, Tatham was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team from 2002-2004. He played three professional seasons in Switzerland, Syria, Qatar and Germany at the conclusion of his varsity career. “We are very pleased and excited to have Patrick Tatham as our Men’s Basketball Head Coach,” said McMaster Director of Athletics and Recreation Glen Grunwald. ”Patrick has established himself as one of the rising stars among all Canadian basketball coaches and we are looking forward to his building on the great tradition of McMaster Marauder basketball. He personifies our values of Integrity, Passion and Inclusivity as we pursue excellence in all that we do – on and off the court.” Tatham said “I’m very thankful for the progression and the learning that I’ve received from Roy Rana at Ryerson, including while serving as the interim head coach last season. Working with Scott Morrison at the Maine Red Claws this year makes for two national team coaches that I’ve been learning under for the last six years, and now it’s time for me to put everything I’ve learned to use.” Connolly said “this is an exciting time for the McMaster men’s basketball program, myself, Coach Tatham and our families. Changing roles, while it may be unconventional, provides me the opportunity to stay connected to this great program in a way that lines up with my strengths and goals as a coach. I’ll also have more time to invest in other places, most importantly with my children. I’m thankful to Glen Grunwald, Associate Director Mark Alfano and McMaster University for being open to this concept and working to make it a reality. We’ve added value to the program, depth to the coaching staff and expanded our reach and connections for recruiting, which is the life’s blood of a U SPORTS program. Most importantly, our need for improvement in player development is addressed with increased manpower.” Grunwald said “I am thankful that Amos will stay on as Recruiting Coordinator and Player Development Specialist. Amos initiated this reorganization because he thought it would be the best thing for our student-athletes and our university, as well as his family. Amos cares deeply about McMaster and wants our basketball program to be the best in Canada. His winning record speaks for itself; he did a great job here as head coach. We are fortunate that such a good basketball man and passionate Marauder will continue working with our program.”
York turfs Tom Oliveri at the helm of the Lions. Oliveri assumed the reins in 2010-11 after Bob Bain retired. He’d previously served as assistant of the Lions for 13 years and head coach for one year while Bain was on sabbatical. He also taught for eight years at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School, where his teams won seven TDCAA championships, an OFSAA bronze medal and two end-of-season top 10 national rankings. As a head coach of the U17 Ontario men’s provincial team, Oliveri led Ontario to back-to-back gold medals at the Canadian Juvenile National Championship in 2002 and 2003. Oliveri was replaced by UQAM coach Nate Philippe, who’d been at the helm of Citadins for two years, leading them to a pair of RSEQ postseason title bouts. He was a York assistant to Bob Bain in 2009-10, and a former coach at Scarborough West Hill Collegiate, where he took his team to the OFSAA quarterfinals. He also spent five years as an assistant in NCAA programs, including a year at North Dakota, two years at Maine and two years at American University. Philippe said was gratified that York was “giving me the time and confidence in me to turn the program around.”
After the season, the OUA again revised its format, abandoning the four-division format in favour of the old two-division, East-West configuration. The East division would consist of its 7 originals, along with Nipissing, while the West would its 8 originals along with Algoma. The regular season would consist of home-and-home games within the division, plus single games against each member of other division. Critics instantly hammered the proposal as being aimed at preventing one of the nation’s existing basketball powers (Carleton, Ottawa and Ryerson) from earning at berth at nationals. The playoff format would have series remain within a division until just two teams are left, with a crossover occurring at the semi-final level, essentially first in the east against second in the west, and first in the West against second in the east, with the winners to playoff for the Wilson Cup. Ottawa began hinting that it would explore affiliation with the RSEQ, while Ryerson coach Roy Rana said the Rams are “always looking to provide the best experience for our student athletes and looking for the most competitive situations which in the long run we think are best for them.” To that end, he added, “we will continue to explore other avenues including NCAA, NAIA or whatever puts our student/athletes in the best possible competitive situation.”
The bronze medalist Brock Badgers: Elijah Green; Nolan Mackenzie; Daniel Cayer; Michael Asemota; Johneil Simpson; Dani Elgadi; Ryan Bennett; Mohammed Ismail; Trevor Thompson; Mitchell Saunders; Tyler Brown; Tristan Thompson; Cassidy Ryan; coach Charles Kissi; assistant Pat Sullivan; assistant Frank Mete; assistant Mike Rao
The runner-up Carleton Ravens: Connor Wood; Kaza Kajami-Keane; Eddie Ekiyor; Ryan Ejim; Emmanual Owootoah; Trajinder Lall; Mitchell Jackson; Cameron Smythe; Mitchell Wood; Stanley Mayambo; Joe Rocca; Marcus Anderson; Yasiin Joseph; William Kohler; Dontae Mitchell; Glenn Thelemaque; coach Dave Smart; assistant Rob Smart Jr.; assistant Dean Petridis; assistant Osvaldo Jeanty; assistant Greg McManus; assistant Aaron Blakely; assistant Richard Anderson; assistant Jafeth Maseruka; assistant Willy Manigat; therapist Bruce Marshall; athletic director Jen Brenning
The champion Ryerson Rams: Ammanuel Diressa; Jamal Jabril; Roshane Roberts; Chase Vassell; Adam Voll; Filip Vujadinovic; Theodrose Demeke; Brandon Bilbija; Keevon Small; Myles Charvis; Adika Peter-McNeilly; Juwon Grannum; Jovan Leamy; Shiv Padam; coach Roy Rana; assistant Borko Popic; assistant Wayne Bridge; assistant Adeel Sahibzada; video coordinator Nooh Abdi; manager Jon Gerow; statistician Mohammed Haroon; student therapist Victor Lanzillotta