“this is a moment they will hold long past their playing career”
The Gees took on the UPEI Panthers on Sunday for one last dance, looking to bring home their third straight bronze medal. On the other side of the court, Panthers looked to medal for the first time in program history, setting up a bronze medal game with high stakes where players would put it all on their line in their final game of the season.
The game was back and forth, with neither team capitalizing on their threes, the paint became the point of attack for both teams. With special plays, from Dragan Stajic to Matt Smith who slammed it down on the Panthers to get the team hyped, and an end to the quarter off a tough fade-away jumper from Justin Ndjock-Tadjore where the Gees would be down two.
The second quarter was neck-and-neck like the first, until a tough bucket from Ndjock-Tadjore in the paint, and another no-look pass from Ndjock-Tadjore to Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta for a three, giving them a five-point lead, which would be backed up by a cross-court pass from Stajic to rookie Owen Kenney for an open dunk.
They would finish off the half 41-34 with a bucket from Brock Newton, holding the biggest lead of the game.
The Panthers would waste no time in the third quarter, tying up the game at 41 in just two minutes. The first Gees bucket of the third quarter came from Stajic four minutes in, being late to the scoring party Smith backed up Stajic three with a field goal looking to keep their lead.
Toward the end of the third quarter, Ankit Choudhary and Ndjock-Tadjore would combine for two quick threes and the quarter would end with a slim three-point lead for the Gees.
Choudhary would start in the fourth quarter as he left the third, hitting a three on the head of the Panther’s guard. Newton was putting it all on the floor for the Gees in the fourth quarter, picking up a block, a forced turnover, and a couple of points.
The Gees held an eight-point lead with five minutes remaining in the game. In the sixth minute, Panther’s leading scorer Kamari Scott would leave the game and finish his U SPORTS career by fouling out, giving a big advantage to the Gees.
The team was in high hopes as they started pulling away from the Panthers, increasing their lead to 15 points with only three minutes remaining.
The Gee’s would get their well-earned bronze medal as they would beat out the Panthers 86-70 in a blowout final quarter, and a sweet moment as many of the players would play their final game as a Gee-Gee on a good note.
The Gees player of the game was none other than the third-year forward, Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, with 25 points on the night, playing a crucial role on both sides of the court, and redeeming himself from the semi-finals.
Gees head coach James Derouin spoke about Ndjock-Tadjore’s comeback game for the bronze. “Justin had such a tough game in the semi-final … but he was on such a tear through the OUA playoffs, so it was great to see him have a bounce-back game … he was unbelievable today.”
He followed up on Newton’s stellar performance, and tournament all-star reward. “He had 22 points, today and several important boards, he was an All-Canadian last year, and didn’t get any recognition this year. And he got robbed of tournament all-star last year, so for him to get a tournament all-star is awesome.”
It was a bittersweet moment for the team as many of their players hung up their jerseys after their last dance, being in uniform for a team held close to their hearts. Although the team was shooting for gold, many teams and players from the Gees squad said ‘you don’t wanna have to play us for bronze.’
Derouin said, “It’s a medal at nationals, some players finishing on a win, others finishing their careers on a win, so this is a moment they will hold long past their playing career.”
A semifinals loss to eventual champion Victoria
On an unfortunate Friday night for the Gee-Gees, they would fight to earn a spot in the national championship game as they would share the court with the University of Victoria Vikes. After a game filled with many chances, the Gee’s great defense would not hold as the Vikes would take them down in a 14-point deficit.
The Gees started the game off slow with over half of the first quarter played they had just two points. Coach Derouin had to call a needed timeout as team three-point shots weren’t falling and they fell to a deep 11-point deficit. The Gees would end the first quarter 23-10, looking to bounce back, reducing the deficit against a hot Vikes squad.
The Gees came out swinging in the second quarter with back-to-back threes from Guemeta, followed up by a pullup three from Choudhary to cut the deficit to four points. They would battle out after a close quarter, however, the Vikes would finish off the half strong finishing 48-37.
Derouin talked at halftime about the plan going into the final half. “We gotta stay home on their shooters, they’re a great shooting team so we have to take away their three ball.”
The Vikes would start to pull away from the Gees after consistent buckets, limiting the Gees to free throws where the Gees would be in the bonus early. The Gee’s were struggling to get things going, and their shots were being forced to long threes.
The fifth-year phenom floor spacer Stajic would get a tough and-one to get the Gees railed up, inflating their desperate chance of a late-game comeback. The Gees would stay close with the Vikes but would never really pull away despite several impressive buckets across the Gees squad.
Time was running out for the Gees but the flame wasn’t put out. Down 83-67 with only four minutes remaining, they needed a miracle. Khalifa Koulamallah knocked down a triple, followed by a Ndjock-Tadjore steal, adding on a Guemeta and-one three building momentum for a last-chance effort. However, the Gees would go down in the semi-finals to a stacked Vikes team 89-75.
It was a cold-hearted game from the Gees in the semi-finals, with an outstanding performance from the two-way guard Guemeta, with 24 points shooting 4-9 from three-point range. The Gee’s forced 21 turnovers picking up 14 steals, however, they were unable to capitalize from their three-point shots, and from the charity stripe, going 9-34 from three, and 12-22 on free throws.
