Second-ranked men’s b-ball stay perfect on season with victories at Waterloo, Laurier
Photo credit: Remi Yuan
The nation’s number-two men’s basketball squad took to the road for the second consecutive weekend, this time looking to add their fifth and sixth wins To the young season.
The Nov. 22–23 weekend began against a winless University of Waterloo team trying to find their scoring groove. It wasn’t long before the Gee-Gees jumped to an early lead on a spring of threes in the first frame. The highest-scoring team in the nation took a 33-6 lead to stun the Warriors early.
Third-year star Caleb Agada led the Gees in the early goings, as he collected the majority of his team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Fifth-year senior Johnny Berhanemeskel continued his dominance with 15 points, along with five rebounds and five assists.
During the third, the Warriors finally found some life outscoring the Gee-Gees by ,three points. But it wasn’t enough, as the sharpshooting Gees team came away with an 89-48 win.
It was Ottawa’s lowest scoring game of the year, likely due to the entire bench getting the opportunity to register some minutes.
The next day, the team travelled less than a kilometre down the street to Wilfrid Laurier University to take on the Golden Hawks. The 3-2 G-Hawks had put up an admirable fight in a loss to the number-one Carleton Ravens the night before, and were looking to prove they could hang with the nation’s elite in the matchup with the Gee-Gees.
The Gees came out far more sluggish than usual as Laurier held an early lead until the final seconds of the first quarter. Laurier would continue to keep it close until the end of the half when the Gee-Gees’ two fifth-year leaders completely took over the game. Berhanemeskel began shooting the lights out, racking up a season-high 34 points on the night to go along with seven assists and six rebounds.
Fifth-year centre Gabriel Gonthier-Dubue was the anchor for the Gees, coming up with massive defensive plays and punishing Laurier’s bigs on the offensive post. Gonthier-Dubue finished with 20 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Ottawa once again turned to their scoring ability to come away with a 115-95 win.
The win extended the Gees’ winning streak to six games and raised their points-per-game average to 103.2, more than 10 above Carleton.
The Gee-Gees will be in for their first massive test of the season next week as the number-three Ryerson Rams return to Montpetit on Nov. 28 in hopes of avenging their loss to the Gees in last season’s playoffs. Tip-off will be at 8 p.m.
