By Libaan Osman
The Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team concluded their regular season with a narrow 81-77 win over the Queen’s Gaels at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Feb. 16.
Holding a 76-75 lead with 18 seconds left, the ball was in Rams guard Myles Charvis’ hand, and he would put the nail in the coffin.
Charvis would connect on a mid-range jumper with five seconds remaining to extend Ryerson’s lead to three. The Gaels wouldn’t be able to answer back.
“It starts from being a little kid in your driveway,” Charvis said. “Making that shot, five, four, three, two, one, counting it down. It just comes with preparation like anything else.”
With the win, the Rams completed the series sweep against the Gaels, as they finish second in the OUA with a 21-2 record on the year.
With 16 of his team-high 19 points coming in the second half, Charvis turned it up to another level in what was also a special night for him and four of the other seniors on the roster who played their last regular season game.
“It’s a little surreal,” Charvis said. “As soon as coach started talking about you, you get memories from when you first got here. I was only here for three years but it felt like I’ve been here for all five.”
With the Gaels holding the lead for the majority of the night, it was a nasty dunk from third-year guard Jayden Frederick that changed the momentum of this game.
Ryerson held Queen’s scoreless for about a six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, capping their season with a four-point win and ninth straight season series sweep over the Gaels.
“It certainly energized us, I thought we started to compete a little harder on the defensive end of the floor,” head coach Roy Rana said. “It made a big difference for sure, that dunk was a turning point.”
Frederick had 17 points and 10 rebounds on 6-9 shooting off the bench for the Rams.
Fifth-year guard Jean-Victor Mukama had just one point in the first half on 0-6 shooting, but he would do other things that made up for the lack of scoring.
Mukama finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
In the fourth quarter, the fifth-year senior started to cramp up and would have to sit for a couple minutes, before checking back in to help close the game.
“I’m dead right now, I need this whole week to ice bath and take care of my body,” Mukama said. “I don’t know why I’m so tired [physically], but we’ll figure it out, we have a great therapist.”
The Rams will now a week to prepare for a semi-finals matchup against either the Ottawa Gee-Gees or the York Lions, as they hope to get back to the Final 8 tournament for the fifth straight year.
“It’s nice to finally get going, I’m glad we got the bye,” Rana said. “That was important for us to have the Wednesday off and get ready for a Saturday game. Now it’s that time of the year.”
UP NEXT: The Rams will host either the Ottawa Gee-Gees or the York Lions. Tip-off time has not been scheduled yet.
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