OUA basketball roundup

SUDBURY, Ont. - Another clutch fourth quarter helped the Lakehead Thunderwolves (6-0) men's basketball team elude the Laurentian Voyageurs (2-4) in a 78-69 win Saturday night in Sudbury, Ont.

Andrew Hackner (Thunder Bay, Ont.) led the Pack with 17 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and connecting on 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc. Both Greg Carter (Ottawa) and Joe Jones (Washington, D.C.) added 13 points from the backcourt.

Inside, sophomore post Yoosrie Salhia (Toronto) had a big double-double with 12 point and 12 rebounds.

Isiah Pasquale (Victoria) was the top scorer for Laurentian, knocking down 23 points while forward Matas Tirilis (Mississauga, Ont.) had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

 Lakehead's effective ball control was a major factor in the win as the Wolves turned it over just 11 times on the night while grabbing 14 steals, including four by both Jones and Hackner.

Lakehead shot 27-of-65 (41.5 percent) from the field to Laurentian's 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) effort but the Thunderwolves were cold from the free throw line, going just 17-of-31 (54.8 percent). The Voyageurs went 18-of-25 (72 percent) from the charity stripe.

CARLETON 94, WATERLOO 67

At Carleton, the No. 1 nationally-ranked Ravens (6-0) defeated the Waterloo Warriors 94-67 in their last home game of 2009 on Saturday night.

The Ravens took an early lead in the first quarter of action at the Ravens' Nest but the Warriors were able to slowly chip away at the difference trailing 29-20 after the first.

 Going into the second quarter the Ravens continued to play their inside-out game with veteran players Elliot Thompson (Fredericton) and Kevin McCleery (Ottawa) who led the Ravens in scoring and rebounding in the first half, giving them a 52-38 advantage going into the second half.

Carleton was able to effectively out-rebound and outscore the Warriors (3-3) in every quarter, giving the visiting team no chance to get back into the game.

The Warriors were able to hold the point margin within 20 points in the fourth quarter. But with two minutes left in the game the Ravens were able to pull away and win the game 94-67.

Carleton was led by McCleery who had 19 points and nine rebounds. Waterloo was led by Ben Frisby (Vancouver) who contributed 19 points in the loss.

MCMASTER 74, YORK 70

At York, Keenan Jeppessen (Stoney Creek, Ont.) led the way once again for the No. 5 McMaster

 Marauders (5-1) with a 25-point, 11-rebound effort as they escaped with a 74-70 victory over the Lions (1-5).

Both Victor Raso (Hamilton, Ont.) and Scott Laws (Grimsby, Ont.) fouled out of the game while York's 6-foot-4 freshman wing Ostop Choliy (Oakville, Ont.) also fouled out, but not before scoring a career-high 15 points in 30 minutes to keep York close.

The Marauders committed 27 fouls during the game and combined with York for 49.

David Tyndale (Mississauga, Ont.) led the Lions with 19 points.

WINDSOR 118, RMC 57

At Windsor, the No. 6 Lancers (4-2) defeated the Royal Military College Paladins (0-6) 118-57 on Saturday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.

 On Saturday, the Lancers used a 38-point first quarter to jump out to a big lead en route to a 70-23 halftime lead.

Windsor continued to dominate at both ends of the court as they cruised to the victory.

In the win, Enrico Diloreto (London, Ont.) had a game-high 22 points and six rebounds while Matt Handsor (Chatham, Ont.) added 14 points and R.J Wells chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds.

Justin Wiltshire (Ajax, Ont.) had 12 points and three rebounds while Lien Phillip (St. Mark's, Grenada) finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. Rookie Michael Godfrey (Wallacetown, Ont.) added five points and three rebounds.

BROCK 80, RYERSON 69

At Brock, the Badgers (2-4) defeated the Ryerson Rams (3-3) by the score of 80-69 in front of 700 fans at the Bob Davis Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

 Brock trailed by as many as 13 points midway through the third quarter 55-42. Over the next eight minutes the young Brock squad would go on a 17-4 run to tie the game 59-59 after a Brian Nahimana (London, Ont.) jumper with 7:02 left in regulation.

With the Badgers trailing 67-65 with 3:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Badgers went on a 15-2 run to close out the game led by the duo of freshman Clinton-Springer Williams (London, Ont.) and sophomore Didi Mukendi (St. Catharines, Ont.) who combined for 13 of the final 15 points.

Springer-Williams led the Badgers in scoring registering 23 points and eight rebounds. Three other Brock players in double figures included Nahimana who recorded a career-high 15 points and six boards, sophomore Joel Whitty (St. Catharines, Ont.) who added 15 points including three treys and Mukendi who rounded out the Brock leaders with 12 points.

For the Rams, Boris Bakovic (Toronto) led all scorers with a game-high 32 points and 12 rebounds.

 TORONTO 64, GUELPH 61

At Guelph, the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues (4-2) continued their winning ways with a 64-61 victory over the Gryphons (1-5) on Saturday at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre.

The first quarter was a low-scoring affair as both teams struggled to find their legs. The Gryphons went on to outscore the Blues 21-15 in the second and held a 32-27 lead at halftime.

The game continued to go back-and-forth with Toronto narrowing the gap to three points (48-45) heading into the final frame. The Blues completed their comeback attempt in the fourth, outscoring the Gryphons 19-13 to hold on for the three-point win.

Four Varsity Blues reached double-digit numbers on the night. Fifth-year guard Nick Magalas (Burlington, Ont.) led Toronto with 14 points, while London, Ont. natives Patrick Sewell and Nick Snow had 11 and 12 points, respectively, and Drazen Glisic (Sarajevo) chipped in with 10 of his own.

 Magalas, Sewell and Glisic combined for 15 boards in the victory.

Fifth-year Gryphons guard Jay Mott (Burlington, Ont.) tallied a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

OTTAWA 73, LAURIER 59

At Ottawa, despite a shaky start, the Gee-Gees (4-2) managed to keep the momentum going and come out on top, defeating the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (1-5) 73-59 Saturday evening.
 
Fifth-year guard Donnie Gibson (Kingston, Ont.) was the Gee-Gees leading scorer, banking 17 points and two rebounds, followed closely by second-year guard Warren Ward (London, Ont.) with 16 points and seven rebounds.
 

 Ward was also perfect at the foul line, along with fifth-year guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto), third-year Matt Riendeau (Ottawa), and second-year Max Clarkson (Peterborough, Ont.).

Laurier's rookie wing Maxwell Allin (Chatham, Ont.) had a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds while teammate Conor Meschino (Oakville, Ont.) went 5-for-7 on field goals and perfect on free throws for a total of 12 points.

WESTERN 85, QUEEN'S 72

At Western, Andy Wedemire (Sarnia, Ont.) was a perfect 14-of-14 at the charity stripe and finished with 24 points as the Mustangs (4-2) won their second straight game, 85-72 over the Queen's Gaels (2-4) Saturday at Alumni Hall.

In a game featuring five lead changes and five ties, Western blew it open with their starters in the second half, outscoring Queen's 26-14 in the third quarter.

 Wedemire added eight rebounds and four assists, while Ryan Barbeau (Belleville, Ont.) had 24 points, nine assists and two boards.

Garrett Olexiuk (Burlington, Ont.) added 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Senior forward Mitch Leger (Kingston, Ont.) led the Gaels with 20 points and 13 rebounds along with three blocks and a steal. But he was 8-of-22 shooting as the Gaels shot under 40 percent in the second half.

But Queen's clawed close in the second quarter, outscoring Western 21-17. They trailed by just one, 41-40, at the half.

Barbeau hit a clutch trey in the third quarter following up on another from Marcus Barnett (Hampton, Va.), who finished with nine points, to blow the game open.

 It capped a 12-0 Western run, starting in the dying seconds of the first half.

While the Gaels' depth was excellent - outscoring Western 36-9 in bench points - they shot the ball poorly including five misses on their last seven shots from the field.

Western also made Queen's pay for sloppy play, notching 26 points off turnovers, including 11 in the third quarter.