“You’re coming into our house, it’s playoffs, you’re going to meet dogs here”
One month ago Saturday, the Laurentian Voyageurs men’s basketball team swung into Montpetit Hall and jumped out to an early 22-16 first quarter lead behind some hot shooting. But on Saturday, it was the Gee-Gees turn to own the first quarter.
A block by forward Brock Newton and two steals from guard Dragan Stajic in the opening minutes of Saturday’s quarterfinal playoff matchup helped to tilt the game script early in favour of the 20-2 Gees.
Threes from Ankit Choudhary, Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, and Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta and a Newton-to-Ndjock-Tadjore alley-oop set Montpetit on fire, and helped the Gees leap out to a 13-0 run to begin the game.
Though Laurentian would settle in themselves, threes from Stajic and Owen Kenney would ensure that Ottawa kept that lead wide open, and they left the opening frame with a 29-14 lead that would only increase as the game continued.
Stajic and Newton were all over the floor all evening, diving for every loose ball. Stajic, recognized before the game for becoming the program’s all-time assist leader, finished with five steals; while Newton grabbed four and added two more blocks in the game.
“You’re coming into our house, it’s playoffs, you’re going to meet dogs here,” said Guemeta after the game. The wing finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a block of his own on the night.
Guemeta said that last year’s quarterfinal upset loss against Brock served as a stark reminder in the team’s mind that playoffs are a different beast. The team’s first-half lead of 16 points didn’t change a thing about the team’s effort.
“It’s foot on the gas, from 0 to 40,” added Guemeta, who noted they had held a similar double-digit lead against Queen’s the previous weekend which dissipated by the end of the game.
“We’ve had some games over the last three weeks or so where we’ve got out to big leads and let the other team creep back into the game,” said Gees head coach James Derouin after the game, who also referenced the Queen’s game.
“We talked all week about this … we have to go 40 minutes here, we only play one game a week, we have a full week off after this, so just no excuses in terms of giving it all, I thought for the most part the guys totally responded for that.”
Seven players saw over 20 minutes of play and five points, while the eighth member of the Gees rotation, centre Matt Smith, logged three blocks and a dunk in his 13 minutes of run.
Leading that bench unit, which also consists of Khalifa Koulamallah, was Kenney. Kenney, a true freshman hailing from Orangeville Prep, finished with 11 point on 3-of-4 shooting (all threes) and grabbed six rebounds.
“I thought [Kenney] was spectacular as a freshman tonight,” said Derouin. “On the glass, hit a couple key threes when things were … getting a little bit dicey.”
Choudhary (3-of-6), Guemeta (3-of-9), Koulamallah (2-of-4), Stajic (2-of-5), and Ndjock-Tadjore (1-of-4) all contributed to the Gees hot shooting performance from long range, which saw every Gee that attempted a three make at least one.
“The guys were locked in tonight,” said. “I know they were excited about the matchup with us, we felt that energy, and I think once we heard that they were excited about [playing us], that kind of flipped a switch for our guys in practice … they were locked in from the beginning, great start, the defence was really impressive tonight by our guys.”
Up next for the Gees, who improve to 11-0 on home court, are Dave DeAveiro’s TMU Bold. The Gees handled the Bold with ease in November at Montpetit, 86-64. Derouin said that the game, which will go 8 p.m. next Saturday, will be “different,” noting TMU’s athleticism in particular.
The Gees enter next weekend’s semifinals holding a 17-game win streak — and presumably, a spot in the national championships locked up even if they are upset by TMU through the tournament’s at-large berth, like last season. But the Gees aren’t taking Saturday’s game lightly. Nothing, especially an at-large berth, is a given.
“It’s the game to go to nationals, so we’ll be ready,” added Derouin. “I’ll just repeat the same message [in the room]: 40 minutes, one game, we played two every weekend. You got one game, there’s no excuses. We got eight guys ready to play, go hard and we’ll rotate you out.”
