By Eli Shupak
Home court advantage throughout the playoffs is back in the hands of the Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team thanks to some help from the nation’s capital over the weekend.
Two Ryerson victories combined with an Ottawa loss to Laurentian and a Carleton victory over the Voyageurs have put the Rams back in control of their own destiny with three games left in the regular season.
For the second weekend in a row, Ryerson used all 12 players who dressed and gave the bench some quality playing time, while crushing the Queen’s Golden Gaels 87-52 last Saturday night in Kingston. The Rams used the game as a one month countdown before the OUAA East Final, looking to put together a solid performance from start top finish.
“Our fate is in our own hands,” said Rams’ coach Terry Haggerty. “If we win the next (three) games, we’re 9-3, and nobody touches us. We take first place.”
The road to the top will not be an easy one for the Rams, with two of their remaining three games on the road at Toronto and Laurentian in the final week of the season. Laurentian has all four of their remaining games at home, with Ryerson coming in next Friday night to possibly determine who takes first place.
Despite their 20-point loss to the Voyageurs earlier in the season, the Rams are optimistic about their chances of taking first and winning in Sudbury next Friday night.
“We’re confident that we can beat them,” said Rams’ guard Mike Chisholm. “Last game against them we played way below our top level and they played well above theirs. We should be quite pumped up going in there.”
The Rams played sound defence against Queen’s last weekend and took a 34-23 half-time lead. They put the game away early in the second half when the offence got on track, as Ryerson built up a 20-point advantage five minutes into the half en route to a 35-point triumph.
“We worked a lot harder against Queen’s this time around,” Chisholm said. “We’re getting ready for the playoffs.”
Alex Beason lead the Rams with 30 points, while PEter Stelter and Wyeth Clarkson both had 11 points to lead the Golden Gaels.
The Rams close out their home schedule at Kerr Hall this Saturday night when they host the Carleton Ravens at 8 p.m. They travel to U of T next Tuesday night when they face the Blues at the Athletic Centre at 8 p.m.
“Our main focus is to take one game at a time,” Haggerty said. “It’s getting down to crunch time.”
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