By Eli Shupak
It’s do or die on Saturday night for the Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team.
With their worst two defeats of the year c losing out the regular season, the Rams find themselves in third place after finishing the season with a 7-5 record. As a result, Ryerson travels to the unfriendly confines of Laurentian’s Ben Avery Gym for a one-game sudden death semi-final at 8 p.m. on Saturday night in Sudbury. University of Toronto hosts Ottawa in the other semi-final on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Athletic Centre.
The Rams-Voyageurs semi-final game is a re-match of last year’s OUAA East Final which Laurentian won 85-73. The game also marks the second meeting in nine days between the two clubs, with Laurentian winning last Friday night 97-76. The Voyageurs have won four of their last five games against the Rams over the past two years, including a 104-84 win at Ryerson earlier in the season.
“We didn’t adapt very well to the things they threw at us (last weekend),” says Ryerson guard Radcliffe Golbourne. “We have to be very aggressive when we go back there this week. It will be a dogfight.”
Ryerson needed to win by at least 21 points in order to overtake Laurentian in the standings and clinch second place. Instead they lost by 21 and find themselves preparing for a return trip to Sudbury.
“We’ve got a full week to prepare for them this time,” said coach Terry Haggerty. “We need to work on our defensive match-ups. The big thing is preparing our defence and hoping that we have a half-decent shooting game.”
In last week’s game, Ryerson hit only 14 of 32 free throw attempts and missed many easy shots as they were easily trounced.
The first half was relatively close until Brad Hann hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Laurentian a 52-43 half-time lead. The Voyageurs poured it on in the second half en route to the 21-point romp.
Hann led the way for Laurentian with 28 points, which included 4 three-point field goals. The Voyageurs hit 10 of 18 from downtown. Cory Bailey also had a strong game scoring 25 points, 19 of which came in the first half. Shawn Swords was held to five points in the first half but finished strong, winding up with 17 points. Alex Beason had 19 points to lead all Rams’ scorers.
“That was the end of one season and this weekend is the beginning of a new one,” said assistant coach Richard Dean. “We’ve got to put that one behind us and look towards the next one. This is the one that really counts.”
Earlier in the week, U of T snapped Ryerson’s six-game winning streak and pretty much ended their hopes of capturing their first-ever division title with an 86-64 victory at the Athletic Centre.
Despite a 10-0 run midway through the second half that cut the lead to eight, Ryerson was never really in the game as they suffered their worst defeat of the year.
U of T jumped out to a quick 9-1 lead and by half-time had built up a 16-point advantage, leading 45-29. The Blues were tested one time in the second half but managed to pull through it and coasted to the 22-point win.
“We played two good teams in their gym and we didn’t play exceptionally well,” admitted Haggerty. “All we gotta do is put together two good games (to reach Nationals). We know were as good as any team in the conference when we play as a team.”
Lars Dressler led the Blues with 22 points, while Eddy Meguerian chipped in 19. Despite hitting only 7 of 16 free throw attempts, Beason led the Rams with 25 points. The team hit 16 of 27 from the charity stripe.
The Rams continue to be the mystery team of the CIAU this year. After being ranked sixth in the country last week, they went out and lost their final two games of the regular season by 22 and 21 points, with first place and home-court advantage on the line. Earlier in the year, they dropped three in a row, including losses by 16 at Carleton and 20 at home against Laurentian.
Team captain Lui Cinello said he feels that the Rams can win their semi-final game but only if they are able to keep their composure on Saturday night.
“With the talent we have, it shouldn’t matter where we play,” Cinello said. “on paper we’re the best damned team out there. It’s just a matter of whether we come to play because we always seem to beat ourselves.”
A bus trip has been organized for Saturday’s game. The cost is $20 for students and $25 for non0students; leaving Lake Devo at 1 p.m. and returning shortly after the game. For tickets or more information contact Leona Mouliakis at the Ryerson Athletic Centre at 979-5096.
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