Box Score Guelph, ON – Saturday night at the WF Mitchell Centre the Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team gave the top team in the country their closest game of the season, but eventually succumbed to the powerhouse Ottawa Gee-Gees 77-70.
Ottawa (4-0, averaging 92.3 points per game heading into Saturday) had too many weapons for the maturing Gryphons, who fall to 1-3 after back-to-back losses to the top two
ranked teams in the country from the nation's capital. The Gee-Gees shot the ball well, ran when possible and crashed both the defensive and offensive boards with passion and despite a solid effort, Guelph couldn't match up.
The Gryphon guards led the way as Jack Beatty, Taylor Boers and Jonathan Wallace each had 15 points. Nathan McCarthy led the balanced Gee-Gees with 15 points, while OUA all-star Caleb Agada added 14 to go along with 12 rebounds.
The Gryphons did manufacture a late push. A Boers three-pointer cut the lead to single digits at 72-64. Ottawa answered with two straight buckets to stretch the lead back to 12 with 1:51 remaining before Guelph rallied again to get within seven points. The hosts produced a turnover and then had multiple chances at a three-pointer in the final minute that would have cut the lead to four but could not cash in.
The Gryphons were in danger of getting run off the court as the Gee-Gees built a 24-14 lead after the opening 10 minutes. But the hosts played a much scrappier second quarter to get right back in it, their best stretch of the game. The Gryphons raised the defensive intensity and went hard to the basket to cut the lead to 39-36 going into the half.
Beatty, who also added a team-high 12 rebounds, was one of the catalysts in the first-half turnaround. He had 10 in the first 20 minutes and came up big scoring five straight points late in the second quarter to get the Gryphons within three points. The fifth-year guard buried a huge three-pointer before adding a couple free throws.
But the bigger, athletic Gee-Gees pulled away in the decisive third quarter. Guelph couldn't stop Agada, who scored eight in the period. And forward Mehdi Tihani struck with two big three-pointers, the second from the right wing padding the lead to 65-50.
Guelph 's next game is at home Friday, November 20 when Laurentian comes to the Mitchell Centre.
