Freshman Muise, veteran Pierre-Charles power Gee-Gees to their first win
The University of Ottawa men’s basketball team took to the court against the Algoma University Thunderbirds on Nov. 3 to start their season.
Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles and Brandon Robinson hit back to back threes to give the Gees an 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the opening quarter. Robinson got a great feed from Sean Stoqua to sky to the rim for a three-point play, giving the Gees a 14-2 lead with seven minutes to play.
The Gee-Gees continued to add to their lead with 2:20 to play from a long three by Gabe Sabean, making the Gees go up 23-11. The Gees took a 30-16 lead into the second quarter, with Brandon Robinson leading the way with nine points.
Brody Maracle followed up a Gee-Gees miss to convert a three-point to increase the Gees’ lead to 33-16, with nine minutes remaining in the second quarter. Two more threes by Robinson built an imposing 42-18 lead for the Garnet and Grey with seven left to play.
Freshman Chase Tynes converted on two contested layups to stretch the Gee-Gees lead to 53-20 with three to go in the half. Another freshman, Alex Muise, hit his third three-pointer of the game soon after to add to an already dominating half for the Gees.
Calvin Epistola hit his second buzzer-beater in as many quarters to add to an already dominating half. The Gees headed to the locker room with a 62-28 lead. Robinson led the Gees with 15 points in the first half, while rookie Alex Muise converted on all three of his first shots for nine points.
Stoqua and Pierre-Charles started the Gees off strong in the third by hitting two layups early, but Algoma would push back slightly, before Kenny Jean-Louis hit a three-pointer to give the Gees a 69-34 lead. Muise hit another three-pointer to help his team increase their lead to 76-38.
Muise continued his stellar debut with a transition layup to go with his excellent shooting from downtown. “(Head coach James Derouin) tells me everyday to keep shooting even if I’m missing, so today when I hit my first one, I just kept shooting,” Muise said on his first big game. The Gee-Gees held an 84-39 lead going into the final quarter.
Maracle opened up the fourth quarter with an excellent hook shot and a floater to stretch the Gee-Gees advantage to 88-41. Stefan Duric hit two threes to give the Gee-Gees 91 points with more than seven minutes left to play. Chase Tynes’ aggressive play in the paint brought the Gees over the 100-point mark for the game with 4:20 to go.
The Gee-Gees took this one 111-55 and ultimately proved they were capable on both ends of the court.
Derouin gave his thoughts on the new recruits who had big games. “Muise, Tynes, and Sabean are special recruits, and we wanted to see what they could do tonight, and did they ever show well,” said Derouin. “It has been a while since a freshman has been part of the rotation and that tells you how special those kids are, especially (Muise) and (Tynes), 18 year-olds.”
The University of Ottawa Men’s basketball team’s next home game will take place on Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. at Montpetit Hall against the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.
