It wasn’t the way they envisioned their season’s end, but for the men’s basketball team, enjoying a surprising renaissance in 2007-08, it was a twist that was never unexpected. Despite dominating Ottawa during their season series, the Blues knew that facing a team as talented as the Gee-Gees in a single-game elimination would be a difficult challenge.
“It came down to a couple bounces at the end,” said Blues forward Nick Snow. “We played [Ottawa] three times this year, and we beat them two times, it could have gone either way.”
Both teams struggled shooting from the field, with Ottawa making 22 of 63 field goal attempts at 35 per cent. The Blues also had difficulty finding their range, shooting at a 36 per cent clip. Toronto player of the game Rob Paris led the team with 16 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Nick Snow posted a double-double with 13 rebounds and 12 points, while Mike DiGiorgio posted double digits with 13 points.
“We didn’t come up with big rebounds, they went to the glass, that was it,” said Blues head coach Mike Katz, following his team’s nail-biting 63-60 loss. “I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I’m really proud of our guys.”
The score remained tight, with Ottawa nursing a 23-18 advantage into the first break, which became a 31-31 deadlock by the halftime buzzer. The Blues maintained a lead through the third quarter, keeping the Gee-Gees off the scoreboard for the first fourand- a-half minutes, briefly holding a nine-point lead. Ottawa had shaved Toronto’s advantage to 45-43 by the final intermission. Trading the lead back and forth with their guests in the final frame, Toronto entered the final minute of play with a slim 60-59 advantage. The Gee-Gees claimed two pairs of free throws in the final minute—all successful—while the Blues were unable to find the net for the remainder, despite a pair of desperate three-point shots in the final five seconds of play.
The loss officially ended the Blues season, one in which they unseated Ottawa as the second overall seed with an impressive 17-5 record, two wins more than the previous year. But anything can happen in the playoffs, and with a trip to the National championships on the line, the team came up a little short.
“It put a little damper on the end of the night,” said Blues guard Sherri Pierce, whose women’s team had just clinched a berth in the finals with a win earlier in the day. “[The men’s team] had a real good season. They were the under dogs all year, and they really pulled it out. They won a lot along the way. But it’s still kind of heartbreaking.”
