With two weeks left in the regular season, Men’s Basketball (11-7) is jockeying for position while also competing to host a playoff game. Currently in fifth place with 22 points, U of T has a 7-2 record at home, but play three of their next four games on the road.
Rival Lions ahead
First up are rivals York (12-6) in a Friday night match-up that will decide third place in the Ontario University Athletic East division. The Lions have the best offence in the league, averaging over 77 points per contest, and have three starters among the league’s top 15 scorers: forward Daniel Eves at 18.5 points per game, guard Rohan Steen at 16.5, and centre Jordan Foebel at 14.7.
But the Blues have been one of the best teams in the nation at stopping opposition, allowing a paltry 62.5 points over 40 minutes. And the last time these two teams met on Jan. 20, the Blues trounced the Lions 89-61.
“York is a big game for us,” said coach Mike Katz. “A win would help our chances for third place, but we know it’s about performing in the playoffs.”
When asked about the team’s desire for a home game, Katz replied that it isn’t foremost on their minds.
“We still want it, but as the last few years have shown, it doesn’t guarantee success. It can work against you, so you can’t worry about it.”
In the past two years, the Blues have had a spotty first round history, claiming a 56-49 victory on the road before dropping a 64-56 defeat at home, each year to Queen’s University.
While a win at York would be a huge gain for the Blues, it will be for naught unless U of T can stay focused when they travel to Laurentian (5-13) Saturday, before having a home-and-home with Ryerson (6-12) to close the season next week.
Carleton foul-up
In recent action, the Blues hosted the top two teams in the league, upsetting Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s ninth-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees (15-4) 70-68 Friday before dropping a 70-63 defeat to Carleton Saturday. The Ravens (17-2) are atop the OUA and are ranked third best in the nation by the CIS.
The Blues had been looking to avenge their 56-59 defeat to Carleton on Jan. 5, and U of T kept up with the Ravens before foul trouble caught up with the Blues. Forwards Mike Williams and Mohammad Safarzadeh fouled out, and Nick Snow was unable to play, said Katz.
“By the time we finished the game, we were playing small at four positions,” the coach said. “But we battled, and in all it was a pretty good weekend against two great teams.
“We’ve been playing well, but so have a lot of other teams. It’s been a tough, competitive league this year, and it’s been fun.”
Ottawa buzzer beater
The night before, the Blues were able to make up a 58-59 loss to Ottawa Jan. 6, as Williams hit a fall-away jumper with six tenths of a second left to post a 70-68 victory for U of T. The fifth-year forward had 10 rebounds along with 15 points, his last two leading to an eruption from the crowd and chest-thumping on the court, a complete reversal from the Jan. 6 game. With only seconds remaining, Williams was at the line shooting two, only to miss the first to give the game to the Gee-Gees.
“It was a great game winner, and was tremendous redemption for Mike after the last game at Ottawa,” Katz said. “It was a fabulous game, as execution went well for both teams.”
A quick start by the Blues had them up 21-12, but turnovers by U of T led to a Gee-Gees rally. Josh Gibson-Bascombe, the 6-4 point guard who leads Ottawa in scoring with 14.5 points per game, stole a Mike Di Giorgio pass, before finishing a three-point play to have the Gee-Gees on top 26-25. He would score four more to cap an 18-7 run by the visitors, and led all scorers with 14 points at the half. The Blues kept up with Gibson-Bascombe by hitting three straight from behind the arc, and the two teams went into the half tied at 36.
Fight to the finish
Both teams stayed neck-and-neck until ten minutes to play, when the Gee-Gees took a 56-50 lead. They also reached the max in team fouls, and the Blues were able to come back thanks to a steady diet from the free-throw line. With six minutes left, Blues guard Nick Magalas took a charge off Gibson-Bascombe, sending the point guard to the bench as U of T tied it at 59.
The game repeatedly came to a halt, as the referees whistled every tight call in the last two minutes. One play had the players looking up in disbelief following an embarrassing jump-ball call after a five-man scramble at the 1:37 mark.
Tied at 65 with under a minute to play, guard De Giorgio nailed a trey to put the Blues ahead by three. Fresh off the bench, Gibson-Bascombe responded with a jumper behind the arc, scoring the last three of his 20 points to tie it at 68.
Twenty seconds remained, and De Giorgio dribbled the ball past mid-court as the time ticked off. With five seconds left, he launched a three that rimmed out. Williams blocked out and gathered the rebound, pump-faking before throwing up the shot. Ottawa’s forward Curtis Shakespeare blocked it, but Williams recovered the ball and as he fell away from Shakespeare’s out-stretched hand, he nailed the baseline jumper for the victory.
