ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – Wednesday night at Brock's Bob Davis Gymnasium, the Gryphons men's basketball team suffered a 93-80 loss to the No. 2-ranked Brock Badgers. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 3-14 on the season while Brock improves to 15-2 to remain atop the OUA West division.
 
There has been no love lost between the Gryhpons and Badgers men's basketball programs in recent years, with Wednesday night's matchup producing another physical, emotional affair. Meeting up for the second time in less than a week, the Gryphons once again hung with the No. 2-ranked team in the country before ultimately falling short of an upset. Wednesday night's game got off to a rocky start for the visiting Gryphons, after Brock stormed out of the gates with a 16-4 run to open the game. The Gryphons would regroup nicely, however, outscoring the Badgers 12-6 over the remainder of the quarter to trim the deficit to six heading to the 2nd. The first half would prove to be a struggle offensively for the Gryphons, who shot just 28% from the floor as a team, but some solid team defence kept the Gryphons in it as they limited Brock to just 2-12 shooting from beyond as a low-scoring 2nd quarter finished 14-11 in Brock's favour.
 
The OUA West-leading Badgers would start to heat up in the second half however, scoring 29 points in the 3rd quarter followed by 28 more in the 4th.
 
The Gryphons received some nice performances off the bench, with third year guard Tommy Yanchus (13 points) and rookie guard Rasheed Weekes (10 points) each scoring in double figures on the night. Gryphons second year forward Banky Alade (Edmonton, AB) led all U of G scorers on the night with 18 points to go along with a team-high 6 rebounds, while senior guard Taylor Boers finished with 14 points while going a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Despite Wednesday's loss, the Gryphons (3-14) remain in the hunt for a playoff spot with seven games remaining on the regular season schedule, including a crucial three-game stretch against teams directly above them in the standings. The Gryphons will now get set to host the McMaster Marauders (4-13) on Saturday afternoon. Following that, the Gryphons will host the Algoma Thunderbirds (4-12) on back-to-back nights (Feb. 2 & 3), with Algoma currently sitting a slim two points ahead of U of G in the OUA West standings.
 
Five of the Gryphons seven remaining games will take place on home court, while the two road games consist of short trips to Waterloo to face both the Warriors and Golden Hawks.