GUELPH, Ont. - Down but never out. That seemed to be the theme all night for the Guelph Gryphons on Friday at the GGAC. Hosting the No. 4-nationally ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Gryphons forced overtime with an incredible 4th quarter comeback, but they didn't quite have enough left in the tank for the extra session falling 77-74. Albeit in a losing cause, Guelph's late-game surge featured an 18-6 4th-quarter run to force overtime.
With five different scorers in double digits, Guelph was able to jump out to an early advantage before being forced to play catch-up right until the end of regulation. Using their high character and no quit attitude, the Gryphons, led by 3rd-year guard Burke Bechard, continued to battle all night despite what the scoreboard said.
In the beginning Guelph was able to jump out to a 10-2 lead over the 4th-ranked team in the country. However, the Gee-Gees began to show their own resiliency tying the game 14-14 as the 1st-quarter came to a close. 
Throughout the middle two quarters, the Gee-Gees continued to build their advantage. Leading by five at half-time before going up 12 points after three, Ottawa appeared to be taking control of the contest. However, ranked 7th in the country for a reason, the Gryphons would not go away that easily.
Still down by 12 points with under six and half minutes to play, Guelph began to take over. Using strong defence, the Gryphons were able to convert their efforts into offensive production. With the likes of Bechard, Skyla Minaker and Ivana Vujadinovic making plays on both ends of the floor, the home side had quickly closed the gap to single digits and eventually to just one possession.
With 2:50 to play in regulation, MacKeely Shantz connected on a jump-shot to tie the game 60-60. From that point on both teams went back and forth with each other trading score for score.
With time running out on the Gryphons and trailing by two, Bechard took the ball down low and converted a tough lay-up to even the score 64-64 with only 2.7 seconds remaining. A half-court attempt from the Gee-Gee's then missed the basket sending the contest to overtime.
In the extra frame, it was more of the same from the two Top-10 squads. With neither team able to establish a lead larger than two points in overtime, the Gee-Gees found themselves up two points with the ball and only four seconds to play. After the Gryphons fouled, the free-throws were split putting Guelph down 77-74. Despite a late three-point attempt, the shot was no good for the Gryphons as the buzzer sounded on their comeback effort.
"That comeback showed a lot of character and a lot of heart out of our girls," said Gryphon's head coach Mark Walton. "It was spread around too, with different players showing that character and heart."
"I was inspired by their play at times, but frustrated that we couldn't make a shot at times, but that is all part of the deal."
With 18 points on the evening, Burke Bechard led the Gryphons in scoring. Ivana Vujadinovic added 14 points for Guelph, while Sarah Holmes, Skyla Minaker and MacKeely Shantz each added 10 points for the Gryphons.
With the OT loss, the Gryphons suffered their first defeat of the 2019 regular season dropping their record to 4-1. They'll have an off-day tomorrow before returning to the GGAC court Sunday afternoon to host the No. 6-nationally ranked Carleton Ravens. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm.
