Montpetit Hall came alive on Dec. 6 for the Bytown Battle
The U SPORTS number one-seeded Gee-Gees faced off against the fourth-seeded Carleton Ravens at Montpetit Hall on Dec. 6. With the holiday break looming, the so-called ‘Bytown Battle’ would be the last game of the semester for each team. The Gees made the intense rivalry matchup a memorable victory for a sold out crowd.
The first quarter started with Carleton winning the tip-off and the visiting team began the scoring with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Despite that, the Gees were playing phenomenal paint defense, sizing up opponents with big blocks and contesting shots.
The Gees were also doing well at drawing fouls to get free throws, and close shooting with layups, despite struggling with their close shots at first. The team was struggling to defend the three-point line as the Ravens were able to make big shots to keep this game contested. The team ran into a few questionable calls on Carleton transfer and first-year Gee-Gee guard Khalifa Koulamallah to give the Ravens more points on the board.
The Ravens ended the quarter with a double-digit lead against the Gees, but there were a lot of highlight plays from the team. Wing Justin Ndjock-Tadjore grabbed a big steal two minutes into the game and found point guard Kevin Otoo for a bucket. Later in the quarter, Ndjock-Tadjore was able to get an and-one, giving the team a two-point lead over the Ravens.
The second quarter started with a big three-pointer from the top of the key, courtesy of guard Dragan Stajic. But the team began to run into turnover trouble, and the Ravens began to capitalize on the Gees’ mistakes.
The Gees were struggling to score as their shots kept getting blocked in the paint and from mid-range, while also struggling to stop the Ravens from scoring from in close. The matchup has been getting defensively strong because both teams are shutting each other down on offense. Lots of blocks, steals and turnovers were on display as the Gees attempted a comeback effort while still being down by double digits.
Another three pointer was made by Stajic, and a sequence involving a steal and layup from Ndjock-Tadjore ensued near the end of the quarter. A technical foul was called on forward Brock Newton after he blocked a shot, which led to a sea of boos from the crowd. The team was still down by double-digits before half time, but Stajic was able to get a step-back buzzer-beater three-pointer to cut that deficit to 45-32 before the half ended.
The third quarter started with Otoo picking up another steal and making the contested layup against the Ravens. Otoo would finish with four steals in total, to go along with his game-high 23 points.
Otoo was asked postgame about making big plays. “I just try to get to the rim as much as possible,” said the fifth-year guard. “[I try to] read out weak defenders and just try to attack them downhill. Find my guys in the perimeter and make plays as much as I could. [I tried] to cut down the lead, and secure [the] victory.”
Otoo was also asked about the energy the crowd gave to the game. “I love when the crowd gets into it, it gives me energy. It gives my team energy. It gives us hope to know that we have a fan base behind us [who knows] that we can do something special this year.”
The Gees came out hungrier and more aggressive in the second half, as they fought to get the comeback on the Ravens. The Gees were fighting for rebounds and getting steals and blocks to stop the Ravens from increasing their lead. The Gees were still struggling with fouls and three-point defence, but overall defensively looked much improved.
Koulamallah got a big steal and finish, as well as a three-pointer from the wing near the end of the quarter to prevent the Ravens’ lead from growing larger. Forward Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta was also able to get a steal off which led to a powerful slam dunk to end the quarter and cut the Ravens’ lead down to just 10.
The fourth quarter started with Guemeta cutting the lead down further with a nice layup, then getting another steal, which he promptly passed to Otoo for an incredible slam dunk.
Montpetit got so incredibly loud when the Ravens tried to shoot free throws and cheered intensively when they missed some of their shots, it caused temporary hearing loss. The crowd was vibing with the team’s effort as they tried to cut the lead down and take the game back. The lead was cut down to single digits as the Ravens were committing costly turnovers and missing shots while the crowd cheered on the Gees.
Guemeta and Koulamallah were able to make big layups to take the lead. The paint defense was phenomenal as the Gees were just bullying the Ravens whenever they tried to get a bucket off. The Ravens were able to extend the lead 66-61 with five minutes left due to free throws and a lot of foul calls against the Gees. But big plays would be made by the Gees’ offense in the last two minutes.
Koulamallah would make a huge layup to give the Gees a single-digit lead over the Ravens and the crowd went nuts over it. After Carleton regained the lead, Guemeta would receive a handoff from Newton. The second-year Gee would proceed to hit the game-winning shot to take the lead and secure the victory 79-78.
Speaking postgame, Guemeta touched on the team’s perfect record. “The thing with this team is that we don’t get in over our heads,” said the Cameroon native. “We don’t overthink too much, we don’t act up because we have 10 wins, we just play, we just come out, we stay humble, we play the next game as another game, not worrying about the score. We don’t look at our overall score because we’re not that team.”
The Gee-Gees would keep their record perfect to begin the season, at 10-0. The team will return to action Jan. 5, when they welcome the Queen’s Gaels to town.
