“I’m honestly happy we were able to get a [win] for our seniors tonight, it just felt right”
On Saturday night the Gees were set to play the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks, defending home court to keep their impressive 12 game winning streak. Following their win against a strong Queen’s Gaels team, the Gees would not take their foot off the pedal against a 7-10 Ridgebacks team for their seniors’ night. They would eventually take down the Ridgebacks by 18 points despite having a 10-point deficit early on.
The Ridgebacks would start the game going on a 10 point run, putting some pressure on the Gees who opted to call a timeout. Gee-Gees rookie forward Owen Kenney was having a great first quarter, where towards the end he would intercept a pass and be all alone for a highlight dunk, hyping up the crowd and gaining the lead for the Gees.
Justin Ndjock-Tadjore would set the tone early on in the second quarter with a tomahawk jam from a fast break. Midway through the quarter the Gees started to take charge, and after a wide open three from Kenney, the Ridgebacks would call a timeout after feeling the heat.
However, the Ridgebacks were putting up a fight, keeping the lead close and the Gees offense in check. The assist maestro Dragan Stajic would pull a three from deep, draining it and increasing the Gees lead to 39-34. Ndjock-Tadjore would finish off the half strong for the Gees with an and-one, followed by a tough putback overtop of a Ridgeback defender, finishing off the half 47-36.
It was an entertaining halftime as the Montreal Steppers took over the court, rallying the crowd with chants, stomps, and no shortage of claps.
The main man Ndjock-Tadjore would start the scoring for the Gees in the second half with a tough fade-away swish, followed by another bucket from the fourth-year guard Ankit Choudhary. Khalifa Koulamallah, the Gees guard out of Gatineau, would force a charging call on the Ridgebacks, turning up the crowd and hyping up the bench.
The following play hyped up the crowd once again as the giant out of Halifax, Matthew Smith, slammed it down with no Ridgebacks willing to contest the dominant center. As the third quarter came to an end Koulamallah was playing bully ball against the Ridgebacks guard Zubair Seyed, stripping the ball out of his hands showing them what true strength is.
Starting the final quarter Choudhary would drain a three, followed up by another emphatic jam from Ndjock-Tadjore putting the Gees up 70-57. To end the Gees hype in the stadium, Ridgeback forward Caleb Kassa would hit a heavily contested fadeaway on Brock Newton following his field goal.
After a failed lob from Stajic to Ndjock-Tadjore, Stajic would pull a corner three which would miss, but luckily Newton was there to grab the board, bullying the ball for a standing dunk. Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta was testing his heat check after several calm buckets, being a nonchalant player Guemeta drained a fade-away looking like Kobe Bryant. The Gees would finish off the game on senior night with a massive 88-70 win over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
The star player for the Gees in this matchup, Choudhary, finished as their top scorer with 20 points on the night. “I’m honestly happy we were able to get a [win] for our seniors tonight, it just felt right,” said Choudhary after the game.
“However we got much better ball to play and are locked in for these last games of the year. It feels great playing with these group of guys, I believe we are a special team. They help me be at my best.”
He and the rest of the team alike are all hyped up to take on the Carleton Ravens for this year’s edition of the Capital Hoops Classic on Friday, which takes place at 8 p.m. at TD Place.
