GUELPH, Ont. - On Friday night (Feb. 10) the Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team punched their ticket into the 2023 OUA Playoffs with a win over the Ontario Tech RIdgebacks. Coming into Friday's matchup with the Ridgebacks the Gryphons needed a win and a Nipissing Lakers loss in order to officially clinch a layoff berth in 2023, with a 93-78 win and a Ottawa Gee-Gees win over the Lakers the Gryphons extended their season. 

The first half of the matchup with the Ridgebacks saw a hard-fought and physical matchup take place, with neither team willing to give up anything easy to their opponent. The two teams combined for 17 first half fouls but with both teams shooting around 50% from the line, neither one was able to take full advantage. After being outscored by one in the first and then outscoring the visiting Ridgebacks by two in the second it appeared this one would come down to the wire. Despite the first-half being so close the Gryphons would go on to outscore Ontario Tech by 14 in the second half to claim victory. The second half effort was thanks to Guelph finding their form shooting, nailing over 50% of shots from the field in the second half. With the Ridgebacks struggling at the line in the final quarter, shooting just 20%, it all but ended any chance of a comeback attempt and with Ontario Tech's leading scorer fouling out, the Gryphon victory was all but secured. 

The Gryphon effort was led by rookie Dezayne Mingo, who continues his impressive campaign where he has emerged as one of the great young talents in the OUA. The Hamilton native eclipsed the double-digit point mark for the 8th straight game, scoring a career high 28 points while adding 7 rebounds and 8 assists. 4th-year guard Dylan McFee also had an impressive performance, knocking down 4 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc for 16 total points. In the last few games the Aurora native has quickly established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters on the Gryphons, Veteran 4th-year guard Jalen Mason also put on a strong performance, scoring 12 points and bringing down 5 rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting. 

After clinching with their win over the Ridgebacks the Gryphons can now set their eyes on moving up in the OUA Playoff seeding, as they are tied with the Western Mustangs at 9-10 in the OUA's West Division with just three games remaining in the regular season. Their first opportunity comes tomorrow night (Feb. 11) when they retake the court at the Gryphons Athletics Centre to take on the division-leading Windsor Lancers. Tipoff is set for 8pm following the women's game with tickets available at gryphons.ca/tickets. The match can also be seen live, online at www.oua.tv.