Clash of hoops titans
Brock, Carleton one win away from entering Saturday downtown showdown undefeated
One thing is certain, the top two teams in men’s university basketball in Ontario will meet Saturday night at Meridian Centre.
What’s up in the air, and won’t be decided until Friday night, is whether the 8 p.m. tipoff between the host Brock Badgers and Carleton Ravens will be a clash of titans between undefeated teams.
A 96-87 homecourt victory over McMaster improved Brock’s record to 9-0, tops in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division with the most wins in the province. Carleton improved to an East Division-leading 8-0 with a 79-57 victory in Thunder Bay over Lakehead.
What’s standing in the way of two undefeated teams meeting at Meridian Centre are Ottawa, 6-2, the Badgers’ opponent Friday at Bob Davis Gymnasium, and McMaster, 1-7, which will host Carleton in Hamilton, also in an 8 p.m. tipoff Friday.
All five Brock starters scored in double digits in the win over the Marauders: Cassidy Ryan, 20 points, five rebounds; Daniel Cayer, 16 points, nine rebounds; Tyler Brown, 15 points, nine assists, eight rebounds; Dani Elgadi, 11 points, seven rebounds, five blocks; and Johneil Simpson, 10 points, 11 rebounds.
The Badgers shot 44.3 per cent from the field, 31-for-70; 35.5 per cent from beyond the three-point arc, 7-for-20; and 81.8 per cent from the free-throw line, 27-for-33.
McMaster’s shooting efficiency was 38.7 per cent, field, 38.2 per cent, three-point range; and 72.7 per cent, free-throw line.
Deficit too deep
Brock dropped a 70-61 decision to visiting McMaster to fall to 4-5 in women’s basketball.
The OUA West Division rivals were tied 26-26 at the half and Brock led 30-29 before the Marauders
went on a 16-2 run to take a 45-32 lead.
It was a 45-38 in McMaster’s favour heading into the final quarter. Brock twice cut the lead to five points, but that was as close as the Badgers would get.
Ana Caldeira Rua, 17 points, four rebounds; Kristin Gallant, 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists; Courtney McPherson, 11 points, 10 rebounds; and Bailie Campbell, 10 points, scored in double digits for
Brock.
As a team the Badgers shot 24for-69 from the floor, 34.8 per cent; 5-for-24 from beyond the arc, 20.8 per cent; and 8-for-14 from the free-throw line, 57.1 per cent.
The Brock women host 3-5 Ottawa Friday, 6 p.m., at Bob Davis Gymnasium; and 8-0 Carleton Saturday, also 6 p,m., at Meridian Centre.
Five wins in a row
Christina Ieradi, Annie Berg, Paige Cohoon, Amanda Ieradi and Rachel Rochet each scored a goal and visiting Brock downed Waterloo 5-2 in women’s university hockey.
Four unanswered goals propelled the Badgers to their fifth win a row, improving the team to 7-2-2-1 in the Ontario University Athletics standings.
Brock is second only to Queen’s, 8-3-0-1, in the 13-team league.
Amanda Ieradi, Hunter Accursi and Christina Ieradi found the back of the net in a 3-2 road victory over Laurier.
The Badgers are home this weekend playing back-to-back games against Western, Saturday, 2:15 p.m.; and Laurier, Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Three-point game
Connor Brown scored two goals and added an assist to help visiting Brock defeat Laurentian 4-1 in men’s university hockey.
Sammy Banga and Nate Looysen rounded out the scoring for the Badgers, who won their second in a row to improve to 6-5-3.
Mack Lemmon and Brandon O’Quinn found the back of the net for Brock in a 2-1 victory over Nipissing, also on the road.
Brock is home to Waterloo Friday and Toronto Saturday in its final games before the between-semesters break. Puck drop is 7:15 p.m. for both games at SeymourHannah Sports and Entertainment Centre.
Fourth-place finish
Brock skaters achieved seven topsix finishes placing fourth overall at Carleton Invitational in Ottawa.
Sydney Vanderveen, first, novice short program; Katie Desveaux, second, open solo dance; and Alexa Leitch, third, STAR 10 free skate; finished in the top three, as did Emily Albrecht and Desveaux, third, open short dance; and Desveaux and Leitch, third, intermediate pairs freeskate; in pairs.
Tanner White finished fifth in open men’s free skate, while Carly Albrecht and Bralyn Nelson placed sixth in senior pairs freeskate.
Toronto, McGill and Guelph finished ahead of Brock in the team standings.
Brock swept in V-ball
Brock wasn’t the happiest of hosts when it played Toronto in volleyball Sunday in St. Catharnes.
The Badgers lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Varsity Blues, losing the men’s game in straight sets — 25-18, 27-25, 25-17 — and the women’s match in four — 25-19, 2527, 25-17, 25-22.
The Brock men fell to 0-6 despite contributions from Logan House, with 14 kills, Peter Schnabel, eight kills, 13 attempts; and setter Marcelo, 30 assists and six digs.
Renee Helmer, 16 kills, eight digs; Laura Condotta, 10 kills, 12 digs; Tori Carroll, eight kills, and libero Julia Balatbat, 18 digs, were standouts as the Brock women lost their third in a row to fall to 2-4.
Brock’s volleyball teams won’t resume league play until Friday, Jan. 12, when they play McMaster in a doubleheader at Hamilton.