“We managed to find points in the paint, points in transition. I thought Justin probably saved us tonight with a solid game.”
The number one division-seeded Gee-Gees faced off against the sixth-seeded Laurentian Voyageurs, with only one season win, at Montpetit Hall on Jan 12. The Gees are ranked second in the national rankings and look to keep that spot in this matchup, where they took over the whole game to secure their victory.
The first quarter started with a powerful four points from the Gees offence and a monster slam from forward Justin Ndjock-Tadjore to kick-start the effort. Ndjock-Tadjore is averaging 14.6 points this season, and was the star of the night in this match.
“I mean, I was just feeding off my teammates,” Ndjock-Tadjore said about his performance. “They were looking after me. I was running, and they were passing.”
Forward Brock Newton was able to draw a foul to secure two free points for the team as well, and Ndjock-Tadjore soared for his next dunk. The Gees did well in the transition as guard Kevin Otoo got a big steal to set up his own huge fast break dunk.
Otoo came into his second season with the Gees as the reigning OUA Championship MVP and his effort this year has not disappointed. He put up 17 points in this game as well as five rebounds, two steals and one block.
The defence was struggling a little in the first quarter as the Voyageurs were able to score from close to keep the game tight. The Gees defence improved halfway through the quarter, when forwards Cid Ruhamyandekwe and Thomas Armstrong checked in. Ruhamyandekwe and Armstrong were able to grab rebounds, contest shots and Ruhamyandekwe set up Newton for a solid layup to take the lead.
The team could not make a single three-pointer for most of the quarter until guard Dragan Stajic was able to hit a nice jumper for the team’s first shot from deep of the game. Otoo was able to hit a fast-break layup that was set up by Stajic’s steal, to end the quarter holding a 17-11 lead.
The second quarter started with a big three-point jumper from Ndjock-Tadjore as the Gees looked to improve their three-point shooting from the last quarter. On the next play, Otoo would set up Ndjock-Tadjore for an alley-oop to put the crowd in shock and awe.
The Gees were absolutely dominating the paint with their close shots and big plays at the rim. Freshman guard Wil Zylyk came off the bench and hit a solid three-pointer to increase the lead by 12 at 27-15. The defence was all over the Voyageurs as they were able to cause a lot of blocks, turnovers, high pressure shots and travelling violations to put the ball back into the hands of the Gees.
Head coach James Derouin stated that allowing more players to touch the floor was one of the benefits of facing a lower-seeded team: “I mean, you’d like to take the opportunity to get some guys some minutes in a regular game.”
“You know, obviously tonight we needed Cid [Ruhamyandekwe], and Will [Zylyk] to play a little bit. Tom [Armstrong], those are guys that aren’t usually in the rotation. But, you know, when you’re not playing Carleton or Queens, you’d like to play a few more guys.”
Ruhamyandekwe went for the tip-in shot after Armstrong missed his initial jump shot, and then got a powerful dunk on the fast-break off his own steal to end the half as the Gees lead 31-19.
The third quarter started with Otoo getting a nice, close shot setup by Newton, and great defence by the Gees to disrupt shots from close and blocking passes to cause back-court violations. Ndjock-Tadjore hit a three-point shot from the corner, and then Newton was able to get an extra point from drawing a foul and making his shot. The Gees were consistently keeping up their pressure in the paint and were improving their ability to create great shot opportunities all around the court.
The defence was struggling a bit at the end of the quarter as the Voyageurs were able to use dribble moves to sneak past defenders and make more close shots. The Voyageurs were able to shrink the Gees’ lead a bit, but only by a point. Stajic was able to increase that lead with a fade-away jumper from mid-range as he caught his defender off-guard, as well as Armstrong for his tip-in shot off Zylyk’s missed shot to end the quarter at 51-34.
The fourth quarter started with guard Khalifa Koulamallah getting a big steal for a fast-break layup, followed by Stajic getting a steal to set up Otoo to fly for his own alley-oop dunk.
“It’s literally just team chemistry,” Otoo said about pulling off the move in-game. “We’re so tight as a family that I just gave [Stajic] the signal and he just knew to throw it. As soon as he gives me those eyes, I just have to know I get to my launch pad and I’m jumping for wherever it goes.” The chemistry has led to some highlight-reel worthy moments this season.
Gee-Gees’ defence started the final quarter on a rocky foot, but they more than made up for it with their powerful offensive effort.
Ndjock-Tadjore hit another top of the key three-pointer as he continued to be the star of the night, after that Otoo hit his three-pointer from the corner as the shooting numbers just kept improving. Guard Sam Playter was able to hit a three pointer from the corner for the game to end a victory over the Voyageurs 69-56.
The Gees return to action when they take on the Waterloo Warriors at Montpetit Hall next Friday, get your tickets here to see the match.
