Gee-Gees trounce Rams 93-64
Some games, simply put, are statement games.
They’re circled on the calendar in red because of lingering bruises from the last time the teams met, the potential effect on egos, rankings, confidence levels and reputations, or the implications of the outcome, such as a higher seeding when the playoffs roll around.
Friday night’s Ontario University Athletics men’s basketball dust-up between second-ranked University of Ottawa and third-ranked Ryerson had all of the above, and more. Both units were undefeated. The Gee- Gees were determined to affirm their status as a serious national title contender that wouldn’t fold under the throat-tightening pressure of a big game. The Rams were still smarting from a 79-78 loss to the Gee- Gees in last year’s OUA post-season quarter-finals and were hell-bent on demonstrating they’re actually of the same calibre as the Carletons and uOttawas of the hard court world. The upshot? The Gee- Gees made a definitive 93-64 statement, while star guard Johnny Berhanemeskel made a breathtaking 18-point assertion, despite playing with a severely sprained thumb that had him in the hospital emergency room just two days earlier.
The squads were mirror images of one another and the level of play extraordinarily high as they battled to a 22-22 lead after a quarter. But Vikas Gill, Berhanemeskel and Mike L’Africain drilled treys, and Caleb Agada a driving scoop layup, as uOttawa ripped off a 13-4 run and then extended the margin to 44-31 at the half on aggressive offensive boardwork and nine late unanswered points.
The Rams had no answer for the post play of Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue, the ridiculously acrobatic penetration drives of Agada or the deft ball distribution of L’Africain as the Gee- Gees buried Ram hopes while extending their lead to as many as 30.
Berhanemeskel said there was no way he’d miss an opportunity to beat Ryerson.
“They definitely don’t like us. We’ve have some wild, crazy wars with them in the past. A big game like that, you’ve just got to suck it up.”
Ryerson coach Roy Rana said, “Once they started scoring, we kind of lost our composure a little bit.”
Gee- Gees coach James Derouin lauded his squad’s defensive effort. “A ninepoint quarter, an 11-point quarter, 64 points. That’s almost 30 points below their average. ... The guys were locked in. They took away their stuff.”
Agada paced 7-0 uOttawa with 21. L’Africain added 15 and Gonthier-Dubue 11. Jahmal Jones and Kadeem Green each scored 12 to lead 6-1 Ryerson.
Meanwhile, 7-0 Carleton clocked 2-5 Toronto 94-56 as Philip Scrubb scored 16, Gavin Resch 15, Thomas Scrubb 12, Cameron Smythe 12 and Guillaume Payen-Boucard 12.
In women’s play, eighthranked Ryerson nipped uOttawa 58-55, while Carleton tripped Toronto 52-49.