By Mario Russo
The Ram’s men’s basketball team dominated the second half, besting the slumping York Lions 100-97 to pick up their first win of 2022 Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The Rams opened the second half of their season with a similar tempo to what fans have been accustomed to seeing from the group thus far, slowly catching fire as the game progresses.
“We’re just relentless,” said rookie Aaron Rhooms following the home victory.
The York Lions ate up the hardwood early on, working the ball around the perimeter and draining just about all their threes.
Halfway through the first frame, every offensive spark from the home team got met with a red jersey sinking a corner three, including a deep trio of points from York’s Chevon Brown that came just below the Rams logo.
So far this season, the Rams offensive production has flowed through their rookie sensation Aaron Rhooms who is a top-10 scorer in Ontario University Athletics. The youngster found himself unsuccessful to kickstart the motor in the first quarter, putting up five points.
“I had to pick it up for my squad,” said Rhooms following the shaky quarter.
Rhooms and the rest of the Rams offence failed to cash in on their offensive opportunities and by the end of the first stanza, trailed the Lions by ten points, getting out-chanced, outplayed and worst of all, heavily outscored in the first quarter.
But just like they have all season, the Rams had a response tucked in their back pocket.
The Lions continued to stick the three-point shot to punish the Rams in the second quarter as well. Brown and teammate Prince Kamunga led the attack for the Lions, racking up 33 of the team’s 47 points in the first half.
But slowly did Ryerson’s offence begin to come to life and Rhooms and Ankit Choudhary weren’t late to the party.
“The bond we have between each other gets us through and it certainly did here tonight,” said Rhooms.
The pair of offensive threats would capitalize on their respective attempts and swing the scoreboard in their team’s favor, coming within a trio of points before closing out the frame trailing by just seven.
The third quarter is where the offence roared to life for the Rams as the squad finally found a way to match the Lions success from the outside. The floaters and fadeaways quickly turned to jumpers and scores from the corners.
Choudhary and Rhooms highlighted numerous runs from the Rams offence. The two combined for 38 points in the contest.
The game’s final quarter fared much closer and tighter than any of the preceding ones. The Rams offence continued to flow through their youthful scorers, yet the Lions still found a way to keep the game close.
“It doesn’t matter who scores, as long as we score,” said Rams head coach David DeAveiro.
The game would go down to the wire in determining a winner. With the Lions in need of just a single point to tie it up, a trio of shot attempts from Somto Dimanochie failed to fall and the Rams escaped the Lions late push, unscathed and with a pair of points.
“We had to lock in mentally and physically to pull that one out,” said Choudhary following the Rams fourth straight victory.
UP NEXT: The Rams are set for a rematch with York on Saturday at the Tait McKenzie Centre. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
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