Wednesday 13 February 2008

OUA Wednesday Night: Mac upsets Lancers; Badgers mount dramatic comeback

OUA WEST
McMaster (9-10) 89, Windsor (15-5) 69 The Marauders ended the third quarter on a 25-12 run and then pulled away for good in the fourth quarter to secure an important road win and solidify their hold on a playoff spot in defeating the Lancers before about 900 fans at the St. Denis Center. Windsor's loss ended the Lancers 10 game winning streak. After Windsor's 5'11" shooting guard Matt Handsor hit the 4th of his 6 threes on the night (6-6 3's for 18 points) to give the Lancers a 35-33 lead early in the third quarter, the Marauders took off on the game-deciding run, pounding the ball inside to 6'9" Terry Licorish, who had his best offensive game of the season for Mac with 20 points (on 9-11 shooting) and 11 rebounds. Licorish's only 2 misses were a pair of late second quarter, ill-advised 3's after which Mac Coach Joe Raso sat the big center down for a period. 6'8" Mouchtar Diaby was also key inside with 11 points and 7 rebounds despite being whistled for a pair of early fouls. The Marauders sat back in a 2/3 zone for the majority of the night, in part to protect their bigs from foul trouble, inticing the Lancers to beat them from the perimeter; Windsor shot a season-high 33 3's making only 10 (30%) and were only 4-27 without Handsor's effort. 6'1" Ryan Steer was only 2 for 9 from the arc and appeared to survive a scary moment for Windsor fans when he injured himself on a drive into the lane after a collision with Mac's 6'1" Jermaine DeCosta. Steer hobbled away from the ensuing scrum with what appeared to be either a charley horse or a hip injury. 6'6" veteran Andrew Losier continued his solid play down the stretch for Mac with a solid second half, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds while 6'0" Amino Bello provided a spark, going 3 for 6 from downtown and 13 points. 6'8" Greg Surmacz had 15 points but only 4 rebounds for Windsor as it appeared that the Marauders tried to go at Surmacz defensively. Steer had only 8 points and 3 rebounds, well below his averages but did dole out 10 assists. 6'3" Issac Kuon (12 points) had 4 early points in the second half for Windsor to give them a brief lead after falling behind 3 at the half but then the Marauders got it in gear to move to within one game of Guelph for a possibility at a home playoff game, winning their second in a row after whispers of missing the playoffs for the first time in 32 seasons were first tabled. Mary Caton's article in Windsor Star Lancer streak ends

Brock (14-6) 70, Western (10-9) 68 6'7" Owen White had the winning basket with just 15 seconds remaining, capping a furious Badgers comeback from 13 points down with just 8 minutes remaining as Brock clinched second place and a first round OUA West playoff bye. Earlier, 6'0" Scott Murray had tied the game with a clutch three with only 46 seconds remaining, incredibly Brock's only made 3 of the game (1-15 from downtown as a team) and later the Mustangs could not convert on their final possession despite getting a couple of cracks at the rim. White ended with 16 points and added 8 rebounds while 5'10" Brad Rootes led all scorers for Brock with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists but was only 4-14 from the floor. 6'6" Brad Smith fouled out after scoring 15 points to lead Western. Late comeback leads Badgers over Mustangs (including Box Score) Jim Wallace of the St. Catharines Standard provides his report Better late than never for cold shooting Badgers highlighting a solid contribution from Brock's Sam Brefo.

Waterloo (5-15) 77, Laurier (8-12) 64 The Golden Hawks playoff hopes took a hit as they were soundly defeated in their cross-town rivalry game at Waterloo. The Warriors jumped out to early leads of 14-4 and 32-18 and led by 15 at the half. Laurier, which is tied with Lakehead for the final playoff spot and owns the tiebreaker, hosts Brock and goes to Windsor for their final two games while the T-Wolves host Guelph twice this weekend. 6'3" Cam McIntyre led Waterloo with 17 points while 6'1" David Burnett had his best effort in many weeks with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists to led the Warriors. 6'5" Kale Harrison and 6'7" Trevor Csima each had 13 points to lead Laurier.

OUA EAST
Toronto (16-5) 84, Ryerson (7-14) 69 The Blues led by 26 after 3 quarters and rode to the easy win behind 24 points from 6'7" Nick Snow and 12 points, 11 rebounds from burly 6'6" Andrew Wasik, a redshirt freshman who continues to make his presence felt inside for the Blues. In his final home regular season game, 6'3" senior guard Mike Degiorgio again had a solid line of 7 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists for Toronto. 6'7" Boris Bakovic had 15 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out of the game. The Blues need either a victory at Ryerson on Saturday or a loss by Ottawa at Carleton, also on Saturday to clinch second place and a first round bye in the OUA East playoffs.

Queen's (14-8) 75, RMC (0-22) 53 The Gaels raced out to a 48-19 halftime lead and then coasted for the win as regulars 6'5" Mitch Leger (11 minutes) and 6'3" Simon Mitchell (9 minutes) played sparingly. The loss mercifully ends the Paladins winless season while the Gaels finish a strong fourth in the East with a solid 14-8 record, a tremendous accomplishment for Coach Rob Smart and staff given the high graduation turnover from last season, a season-long injury to 6'3" regular Ryan Hairsine and the regular use of at least 5 freshmen in the rotation. Queen's will host either Ryerson or York next Wednesday night in an OUA East sudden death quarter-final playoff at Bartlett Gymnasium in Kingston. A win by York over Laurentian at home on Saturday coupled with a U of T win over Ryerson also on Saturday vaults York into fifth place and a playoff date with the Gaels; anything else and the Gaels will host Ryerson.

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