The only explanation for Brock Newton’s play is that he is a man possessed.
This team will never lose again. Ok, maybe the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team won’t quite cruise to a perfect season like the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs in Jared Keeso’s Shoresy. But fans can still hope, right?
The Gees would welcome the 3-1 Brock Badgers into Montpetit Nov. 18 for an 8 p.m. matchup. The Badgers were coming off a tight loss to a Carleton team, whose reign of terror in the OUA may be coming to an end. The Gees had just dropped 97 points on Lakehead and had scored more than 80 each game this season.
But right off the bat, it seemed like this would be a different game. The refs had stashed their whistles in their pockets and were letting the boys play. The fast-paced, back-and-forth action seemed more akin to a hockey game than a basketball game.
The first basket of the game would come after a staggering seven field goals and four free throws were missed, by way of a Brock hook shot just over two minutes into the game. Brock Newton would find Kevin Otoo on the fastbreak moments later, and finally both teams were on the board.
But the frenetic pace and low-scoring game continued throughout the rest of the quarter, as just 22 points were scored in total. Brock was getting on loose rebounds ferociously; forward Jordan Tchuente racked up six in the first frame alone.
Tchuente would continue to be an issue on the glass all night. The 6’6” Kanata product would fail to eclipse his 19 points and 22 rebounds from Brock’s Nov. 11 game against Toronto Metropolitan, but would still end up with a gaudy 16 points and 17 rebounds. Tchuente also nailed three deep balls out of 10 attempts.
Early in the second quarter, the Badgers would start to pull away and would lead by as much as seven. But with the shot clock winding down, bench guard Sam Playter pulled out a nifty move from his bag of tricks. The second-year dribbled behind his back, giving him enough space to shoot. But instead, he threw a strike to a cutting Brock Newton in the pain, who promptly slammed it home to the crowd’s approval.
Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta and Dragan Stajic would add threes in the frame, but the Gees would be stuck in a deadlock with Brock, 28-28, entering halftime. The Gees were struggling beyond the arc in general though, with the only other make coming from Khalifa Koulamallah in the first quarter.
The referees had seemingly found their lost whistles in their locker room at halftime, and a much different game started to unfold. Fans could finally pry their eyes away from the action for a few seconds at a time as free throws were back in fashion.
After Carleton’s Georges Mfwamba Ngandu missed his attempt from the stripe on an and-one attempt early in the quarter, Tchuente found the rebound and slammed it home.
But Stajic would drain another three, bringing the Gees back closer. Otoo would next swipe the ball from Brock point guard Jevon Brown, and hustle down the court to lay it in. Otoo would hit from deep on a pull-up a few minutes later to break yet another tie, this one at 41.
With around four minutes to go, the Gee-Gees were down three. Brock Newton was subbed out, and the Badgers went up by 11 points. Their undefeated season was beginning to look like it might be over. But veteran head coach James Derouin wisely sent the star forward back to the scorer’s table to check in and stop the bleeding.
What happened next could only be truly understood if you were in the sold-out crowd in the dingy gym at Montpetit on Saturday night. Off of the inbound, Otoo dribbled the ball up and gave it to Newton, who was standing with his back to the basket outside the three-point arc.
The 6’7” Fergus native dropped his left shoulder and drove to the rim, putting home a layup off the glass. Newton was fouled in the process and would bring the Gees within six after making his free throw.
The Badgers would travel on their next possession and commit one of their 18 turnovers on the night. The Gees forced a handful of others by playing stingy defence and causing shot-clock violations.
Derouin spoke about the defence after the game. “Our defence is keeping us in the game,” the coach said. “We have to reward our defence with a made shot.”
Brock Newton also acknowledged the team’s defence, after admitting that they weren’t great to begin the year. “Defence continues to be a staple for our team and what we’re working on, what we try to strive for, I think over the last few years we’ve been a really defence-oriented team. Being so offensively skilled this year, we still have that to rely back on and I think that’s a really important piece for our team this year.”
Moments later, Otoo would find his favourite target once again. Newton posted up and received the ball from the guard. With the shot clock ticking down, Brock doubled the forward, and Tchuente would send Newton back to the stripe, where he would make the first shot.
On the Gee’s next possession, after a made free throw by Tchuente, it looked like Otoo and Newton were about to set up a pick-and-roll. But instead of setting a screen for his guard, Newton dove to the rim unguarded, where Otoo easily found him.
Newton rose above a hapless Badger and layed it off the glass. Once again, the flashy forward was fouled in the process and would make his free throw.
Moments later, another sequel of the Otoo-Newton show premiered. The 6’0” guard drove to the paint, taking in multiple Badgers defenders. He swung it to the left elbow, where his sidekick stood open. The forward decided to show off his jump shot and banked it off the glass.
After a defensive stop, Otoo found Newton in the paint for the seemingly millionth time in a row. This time, he couldn’t make the layup but was fouled hard in the process. The Bucknell (NCAA D-I) transfer would make both from the line. The Badgers had no match for Newton’s finesse or physicality, as he put in 12 points in the third quarter.
The free throws being made were also a comforting sign, given he shot just 40 per cent from the stripe last season. The team needed him to be better from the line this year because every point matters in a tight game like this one.
Derouin was happy with the resiliency shown by the team when speaking post-game, saying “[I’m] really proud of how our guys responded. Huge run to end the third, that was huge for us to respond like that.”
Newton’s older brother Cole would drill a deep three to begin the fourth quarter, one of his two makes from downtown in the final frame. And Brock was still causing issues for the Badger’s defence, as his mere presence caused spacing issues.
The younger Newton would add another and-one late in the game, essentially putting the game away for the Gee-Gees. He left with 25 seconds remaining, to raucous cheers from the sold-out crowd. Newton even acknowledged the fans with a wave as he left the game.
Newton gave a shoutout to the Gee-Gees faithful after the game. “Montpetit is the best place to play in the country, I love all the fans, the people that come out and support us, it’s really what makes everything worth it. It totally makes the grind worth it, to come out here and see all the support from fellow student-athletes, fellow students, or just people from the community. It means a lot to all our guys.”
Derouin also touched on the fans who showed up on the home-opening weekend. “[Friday night] was wild. I mean, we’ve had lots of good crowds in terms of size, but what you recognize is that it’s a basketball crowd. So, they know when to make noise on the free throws, and get after the refs. They were after [Lakehead’s Chris Sagl] yesterday, cheering when he missed.”
“That’s not the moms and dads doing that, that’s the basketball people. So that’s awesome. Having that kind of atmosphere, a true basketball environment, on back-to-back nights was really special.”
The Gee-Gees will take on Nipissing and Laurentian on the road next weekend before then travelling to York and McMaster the following weekend. They return to Montpetit Dec. 6 when the Carleton Ravens come to town. Circle it on your calendars now; you’d be a fool not to be at Montpetit that night.
As Newton sees it, “Guys are going to have no trouble getting out of bed for that one.”
