Basketball

Ottawa shows at-large selection was warranted with third-place finish

After earning the at-large berth in the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8, the Gee-Gees proved that their selection was warranted with a 91-83 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers in the bronze medal game on Sunday afternoon at Laval University’s Amphithéâtre Desjardins.

The win secured back-to-back bronze medal wins at the tournament for the Gee-Gees, and their fifth medal all-time at the event. Here’s a further look at the road to bronze for the Gees.

Quarterfinals vs. UQAM: 78-71 win

The Gees had a lengthy layoff between the loss to Brock on Feb. 24 and their opening game of the Final 8, a 1 p.m. meeting on Friday with the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins, but there was no evidence of rust in their game.

Recently named Second-Team All-Canadian forward Brock Newton seemed to be extra excited to be in Quebec City, and employed some bully ball tactics on his way to a personal 8-0 run to begin the game. The third-year would score the first 10 points of the game for the Gees, but the Citadins would rally to tie the game up late in the first frame.

From there, the teams would battle for the lead until the fourth quarter, when the sixth-seeded Gees would start to pull away from the RSEQ champion third-seeded Citadins. Newton would finish with a team-high 23 points, outdone in the game only by Citadins guard Bahaide Haidara — who finished with an impressive 24 points on just 13 shots off the bench.

Three former Gees played large roles for the Citadins. Fifth-year guard Kevin Civil was the most prominent of that group — which also included Elie Karojo and Quincy Louis-Jeune — as he finished with 14 points and grabbed four steals.

Derouin was complimentary of the team’s defence, saying “We just got stops, our defence was just a little bit better. We were able to turn them over and made enough plays in the end. It was really our defence in the third and early fourth quarters that gave us the lead and that was the difference today.”

Semifinals vs. Queen’s: 84-77 loss

All season long, it’s been Queen’s. In January, the Gaels handed the Gees their first loss of the season. In February, the Gaels took down the Gees in overtime, securing themselves the first seed in the OUA playoffs. And now, in March, the Gaels ended the Gees’ hopes of competing for what would be the program’s first national championship.

The game started off close, and the teams battled for ownership of the lead throughout the first half. Midway through the second, Gee-Gees point guard Dragan Stajic would regain the lead for the sixth-seeded Gees with a three. After a defensive stop, the fourth-year would pull up and hit a heat check from deep three-point range which would extend the lead to four points.

Then, Newton would find his older brother, Cole open in the right corner. The older Newton would sink the three to make the lead seven and cause the Gaels to call a timeout. The third-year guard enjoyed perhaps his best stretch of games the entire season at the tournament, a season that was put on pause due to a lower-body injury.

The guard finished with 28 points in total over the three games after making 10-of-24 field goals and 5-of-12 threes. Derouin had talked about Newton’s intangibles when he returned in February, before his offence had yet to fully return.

“It’s huge [to have him back],” said the coach at the time, before continuing to talk about how important Newton’s voice is in the defensive end. “Having him back on the bench, in the locker room, at practice, calling out their plays before they call them out, is really instrumental.”

But the timeout would end up working for the Gaels, probably better than they had even dreamed it would. Led by brothers Cole and Lukas Syllas, the Gaels went on a 14-0 run out of the break, before Brock Newton drove for an and-one to end the dominance.

Fifth-year Cole Syllas would then drain back-to-back threes, bringing the lead to 43-33 Gaels. The Gees would battle to get the lead within two points late in the third, but once again the Gaels would pull away.

Another Brock Newton-assisted corner three by Cole Newton would bring the Gaels lead down to five with just minutes remaining, but that was as close as they would get. Queen’s would ultimately go on to be shockingly upset in the gold medal game by the host Laval Rouge et Or.

Bronze Medal Game vs. Dalhousie: 91-83 win

After Dalhousie was surprisingly upset by the host Rouge et Or in the semifinals, they would face the Gee-Gees in the bronze medal game. The Tigers were carried by Malcolm Christie in the game but lacked much secondary scoring.

Once again, the score was close after one quarter, with both teams knotted at 12. The game was noticeably less tight defensively, as the Tigers were not as physical on the glass and in the paint as the Gaels were. With under 10 seconds to go in the first half, fifth-year guard Kevin Otoo would tip in a missed three from Cid Ruhamyandekwe, two of his 16 points on the night.

The game would be Otoo’s final in his collegiate career which saw him play three years at Humber before winning back-to-back bronzes with the Gee-Gees. Split between the two programs, Otoo notched his 1000^th collegiate point back in January in a win over Algoma.

Backcourt partner Dragan Stajic joined Otoo in double digits, racking up 14 points while also dishing out 10 assists. Brock Newton scored 15 points, while first-year Gee Justin Ndjock-Tadjore led the team with 26 points and nine rebounds.

Ndjock-Tadjore, a 6’7” forward, threw down three dunks during the game, perhaps the biggest of which came with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. With the Gees clinging to a seven-point lead, Ndjock-Tadjore drove to the paint and attempted a layup over a defender that was missed. Ndjock-Tadjore would grab the rebound and slam the putback back over a defender with one hand.

Christie would finish with 31 points, including 5-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc, after a dominant season which saw him average 22.1 points per game and collect the AUS Most Valuable Player award — but it just wasn’t enough for the Tigers. The Gees would hold onto and extend their lead, and ultimately come away with a 91-83 win.

The medal was the fifth all-time for the Gees, and their second bronze in as many years. The Rouge et Or would go on to win Gold in an instant-classic on home court in front of 3200 fans against the Gaels, 77-71. Laval — who only qualified as hosts after posting a 6-10 record in the RSEQ — is the first French-language university and third RSEQ team overall to capture a national championship.