GUELPH, Ont. – It was only three nights ago when the Guelph Gryphons erased a ten-point fourth quarter deficit, only to lose a heart-breaker in the dying seconds Wednesday in Windsor. Hosting the same Windsor Lancers team Saturday afternoon at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphs this time recovered from a 15-point second half deficit before making sure to finish the job. Securing their first win of the season, the Gryphons (1-1), led by veterans
Malcolm Glanville and
Rasheed Weekes cranked up their play on the defensive end down the stretch while also making crucial buckets late as Guelph pulled off an incredible come from behind win, 80-77 over Windsor (1-1).
"We felt like we kind of gave that game away at the end in Windsor," said Gryphon's Head Coach
Chris O'Rourke. "Then today, we challenged the guys at half time. We know this is a resilient group, we've since that since day one when we started practicing. I knew we would have some fight in the second half and it was just a matter of if it would be enough to comeback."
After a strong first quarter for both teams came to an end with Windsor leading 27-24, the Lancers began to pull away in the second. Getting their lead as large as fifteen points during the quarter, the visitors ultimately carried that same advantage into the break at 52-37.
"Our biggest challenge to them at half time was simply defensive pride," O'Rourke said. "Turning defence into offence is key for us. We have an explosive offensive team,"
"We have a lot of weapons we feel like, but you have to play defence first and then that will translate."
Coming out of the break after the challenge from their head coach, the Gryphons quickly got to work. Going on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, Guelph swiftly trimmed the Windsor lead down to eight. From there, the two teams would exchange mini runs. With the Lancer's lead hovering around the eight point mark for much of the third quarter, the Gryphons would get the deficit as low as five at one point, but Windsor would also respond and extend it as high as 13 points. Once the buzzer sounded on the third quarter, the Gryphons found themselves having made up half of the deficit from half time, but still left with plenty of work to do trailing 66-59.
Fortunately for the Gyrphs though, when the lights were brightest in the final quarter of play, the Gryphons seemed to be at their best. Maintaining the defensive mindset that was preached to them at the break, Guelph caused all kinds of problems for Windsor's attack. Forcing six turnovers, while holding the Lancers to just 11 points in the quarter on 5-16 shooting, the Gryphon's play in their own end gave their offence a chance to complete the comeback.
With the Windsor lead down to five but with only 3:55 left to play,
Rasheed Weekes lined up a triple and knocked it down pulling Guelph within two while simultaneously bringing the entire GGAC crowd to their feet. Then,
Khalid Ismail stole the ball on the ensuing position and quickly transitioned into offence before laying up the tying two points. With the clock down to 2:45,
Malcolm Glanville hit a jumper to give Guelph a 76-74 lead, their first lead of the contest since Glanville put them up 6-3 in the opening minutes. Keeping up the defensive pressure, the Gryphs continued to get stops in their own end leading allowing them to go up by four, 78-74. Trying to reply late, the Lancers hit a three with 33 seconds to go, but after Glanville drew a foul and calmly converted the two free throws, Windsor was unable to find the game tying three before the buzzer sounded.
Rasheed Weekes finished the contest with a team-high 24 points, as well as a double-double having collected 11 rebounds. Glanville tallied 21 points on the night, and
Keenan Dowell added 15. Off the bench, the Gryphons got major contributions from both
Carl Veltmann and
Khalid Ismail who had nine and eight points respectively.
"Us playing unselfish, moving the ball and getting everyone involved is very important," O'Rourke said. "However, we can never lose sight of what we need to do in the defensive end."
Now 1-1 on the season after two one-possession games against Windsor, the Gryphons will turn their attention towards the McMaster Marauders who they will host on Wednesday before heading to Hamilton on Saturday.
