Toronto sings the Blues as Brock paints Meridian Centre red
Badgers sweep team from the Big Smoke in annual hoops doubleheader at downtown arena
To say the Brock Badgers shot “from downtown” when they swept the Toronto Blues in men’s and women’s basketball Saturday night in St. Catharines would not be an understatement.
Not when Brock hosted the Blues at Meridian Centre in the downtown core for the fifth annual Paint the Meridian Red event.
“It was good to have energy and to feed off the crowd,” head coach Willy Manigat said after his men’s team topped Toronto, 75-65, and made 12 of its 33 three-point attempts from downtown to improve its record to 6-6.
Action tipped off with the Brock women, ranked eighth nationally, defeating the Blues, 84-69, for their 10th win in 12 starts this season.
“The experience of playing in this venue, in front of our crowd, there’s nothing else like it,” head coach Mike Rao said.
“It’s a great event for the university and program,” he added. “It’s a great day for Brock basketball and Brock University.”
Jessica Morris, with 20, Melissa Tatti, with 18, Kristin Gallant, with 13, and Sam Keltos, with 10, were top scorers on a Badgers team that combined to shoot 10 of 27 from beyond the threepoint arc. After netting just seven points in the first half, Morris nearly doubled that when Brock returned to the court following the halftime break.
“Jessica Morris played a tremendous second half. I thought she was dialed in,” Rao said.
Tyler Brown, a senior guard on the men’s team, felt right at home in the venue, and it showed on the scoresheet.
Brown, who spent the summer competing at Meridian Centre as the designated development player on the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, had a gamehigh 13 assists to go along with 11 points.
Brock has been hosting a game at the downtown arena since 2015, but had yet to emerge triumphant on the men’s side until Saturday’s game against the Blues.
“This is a special event for our guys, but more importantly for a guy like TB (Brown) to win his first one — and for me to be a part of it — is pretty special, “Manigat said.
“This is a step in the right direction.” Sophomore Godsman Kwakwah, with 26 points and five rebounds, fourth-year forward Daniel Cayer, with 12 points and 14 rebounds and third-year guard Daniel Caldwell, with a career-high 18 points off the bench, also scored in double digits as the Badgers snapped a three-game losing streak.
“I think guys finally stopped putting so much pressure on themselves,” Manigat said.
Visiting Western men’s (13-3) and women’s (12-2) squads provide the opposition Wednesday when league play resumes for the Badgers, this time on their home court at Bob Davis Gymnasium.