KINGSTON, Ont. - Hitting the road to begin their 2019 OUA regular season, the Guelph Gryphons (0-1) put together a valiant comeback attempt, however, it wasn't quite enough Friday afternoon in Kingston against the Queen's Gaels (2-1). After falling behind by as many as 21 points in the 2nd-quarter, the Gryphons fought back, twice tying the game late in the 3rd, before the Gaels managed to pull away for an 88-70 win over Guelph.
After a tough start to the contest, the Gryphons began to get themselves on track just under four minutes into the 2nd-quarter.
Throughout the middle portion of the Gryphon's season opener, Guelph's defence really began to turn up the heat on the Gaels, allowing the Gryphons to begin working away at Queen's lead.
Forcing plenty of empty possessions for the Gaels, Guelph quickly began to work that momentum into the offensive end. With 6:04 remaining in the 2nd-quarter until there was 2:20 to play in the 3rd, the Gryphons outscored the home side 41-20 en route to having the game tied 53-53.Â
Malcolm Glanville, a 3rd-year guard for the Gryphons did everything he could to help dig Guelph out of their early hole. Of his game-high 23 points, 14 of them came in those middle two quarters as the Toronto native led the Gryphons comeback charge. Offencively the Gryphons also received solid contributions from 3rd-year forward Rasheed Weekes, who posted 14 points in the game, and 3rd-year guard Keenan Dowell, who finished with 12 points. On the other side of the ball, Guelph held the Gaels to just 38.7 percent shooting from the field combined for quarters two and three.
Right in the middle of their mid-game charge, it was Dowell creating momentum for the Gryphons heading into the half. Having cut the lead down to ten points and getting the ball for the last possession of the 2nd-quarter, Dowell decided to get his team even closer. After in-bounding the ball to Glanville, he quickly received a return feed, took a couple of dribbles past half-court and nailed the long buzzer-beating three sending Guelph to the locker room only down 40-33. Starting the second-half, the Gryphons continued to claw back, and it was once again Dowell hitting a jump shot to tie the game 53-53 with 2:20 to go in the 3rd.
In the end, the Gryphons did not quite have enough left in the tank after getting the game tied as the Gaels were able to use the 4th-quarter to pull away and secure the win in their home-opener. Even with the results of the final quarter as they were, the Gryphons will have plenty of positives to build on as they quickly get set for their own home-opener. The Gryphs will return to the GGAC Saturday night to host the York Lions. Trying to secure their first win of the season on home court, the Gryphons will tip-off against the Lions at 8:00pm.
