“We just have to stay focused, win these games, and then it’s all playoffs from there”
The Gee-Gees came into Feb. 9’s matchup against the TMU Bold on an eight-game win streak and ranked first in the nation. On the visitor’s bench, the TMU Bold were 11-7 on the season. But midway through the second quarter in Montpetit Hall, the game was tight, with the Gees leading by just one point.
Enter the perennial showman, Brock Newton. The 6’7” forward set a pick for guard Dragan Stajic, who found him on the roll. Newton dribbled once and took two steps towards the rim, before slamming it home with conviction.
After a steal from first-year Gee Khalifa Koulamallah on the ensuing TMU possession, the Gees went down the floor on a fast break. Stajic found fifth-year guard Kevin Otoo in transition, who lobbed it up for Newton, who decisively put it home to complete the alley-oop.
On the very next possession, Stajic wisely found Newton with space at the top of the key. The Fergus, ON product again went straight for the rim, this time dunking over a hapless Bold defender. After a bucket by the Bold, the Gee-Gees brought the ball up the court once again.
Drawing in two defenders near the corner, Stajic threaded the ball through them with a bounce pass that again found the hands of Newton. He went straight up through multiple defenders, laying the ball in while drawing a foul.
Thanks in part to that 9-0 personal run, Newton finished with a game-high 26 points. More importantly, the change in momentum was imperative for a Gees team that needed to get the crowd back into the game. Newton touched on what home-court advantage means to him postgame, saying he is a “big energy guy.”
Newton continued to talk about what transpired in the second quarter. “That was really fun. Just for all those guys to find me on those cuts, just to run the floor and get those dunks, it was huge. It was really fun for the guys, and I think it got the guys going.”
The Gees would take a 42-29 lead into halftime, and would never really let it get any closer than that. While scoring just 69 points, they did manage to hold TMU to 52, a feat considering they entered the game averaging 82.8 per game.
Even more impressively, the Gees held the Bold to just a trio of made three-pointers the entire game. Gees head coach James Derouin gave credit to his assistant, Gee-Gees legend Mike L’Africain, for a good pre-scout.
“[L’Africain] does a great job with the scout. [TMU] really has some specialists there from three, I thought we were able to take that away. Even in our switching defence, isolations, we just contested everything really hard. You know, if we could get a defensive rebound and make a three we’d be a really good team.”
Newton’s main facilitator all game long was Stajic. The fourth-year guard finished with eight points, six rebounds, and a game high 11 assists. For perspective, the entire Bold lineup combined for 11 assists. On six total attempts, Koulamallah made three shots from beyond the arc, leading the game.
The Gees will take on the U of T Varsity Blues at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 before travelling to Queen’s and Ontario Tech next weekend. Newton talked about closing out the schedule, saying “Playoff seeding is on the line. The goal is to host [the OUA championship] at home. That’s our goal, we just have to stay focused, win these games, and then it’s all playoffs from there.”
