By Dexter LeRuez
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team closed out its pre-season in a losing effort, dropping a 91-76 contest against the University of Alberta Golden Bears at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday.
The Alberta team the Bold hosted were no slouch, finishing third at last year’s U Sports Final 8 National Championship Tournament.
“Our plan was to come out here and compete,” said TMU head coach David DeAveiro. “We wanted to execute our plan and I thought if we did that we’d have a chance to win.”
The matchup began as a low-scoring affair filled with missed shots, travels and steals. Only 11 points—four for the Bold and seven for the Golden Bears—were scored by the five-minute mark in the first quarter.
It wouldn’t be long until a flurry of mid-range shots from TMU big man Lincoln Rosebush put the Bold up 15-9.
“I just let it come to me,” said Rosebush, who finished with 11 points and nine assists. “Especially as a big (player), you don’t really start with the ball, they’re getting me to my spots, I got some good chemistry with a lot of the guys.”
The two teams traded baskets back and forth for the remainder of the first, ending with a 20-16 TMU lead after ten minutes of action.
Throughout the game, both teams’ interior defence remained stout. With layups not an option, they relied heavily on the three-ball.
“I actually kinda like it when a team is pressuring our guards because they are not able to adjust quickly when we set a screen, so I’m able to be physical and try to create a lot of space,” said Rosebush.
Both teams began to let the ball fly in the second quarter, putting up three-pointers from every inch of the arc.
It was clear that TMU’s game plan was to slug it out with the Golden Bears via the three-ball. TMU made eight threes in the second quarter alone to put them up 48-46 at the half.
Issues began to arise when the Bold’s hot hands cooled off. The Bold were 1-7 from beyond the arc in both the third and fourth quarters.
TMU’s interior defence held strong, keeping the Golden Bears to 4-12 from the two point range in the quarter, allowing TMU to mount a 63-62 lead after the third.
However, the Bold’s defence began to crack as Alberta’s Julian Vaughns sliced through the paint and Abdullah Shittu put down basket-shaking dunks to put the Golden Bears up by double digits.
“We were taking bad shots,” said DeAveiro of the final six minutes. “Then defensively we stopped doing what we are supposed to, we weren’t switching and so, that’s a well-coached team that took advantage of the switch.”
Saturday’s game brings an end to the Bold’s pre-season play, which saw TMU face some of the best U Sports competition as well as U.S. college programs Oregon, Saint Michael’s and Northern Illinois.
“We try to put a competitive schedule together in the pre-season, give our guys the opportunity to play against really good teams,” said DeAveiro.
With the pre-season done, the Bold are preparing to play their cross-town rival University of Toronto (U of T) in their first regular season game.
“Opening up against U of T, who is a good team, will be difficult, but I think we need to continue to grow, continue to develop our basketball IQ and be smarter out there,” added DeAviero.
UP NEXT: The Bold will open up their regular season at home against cross-town rivals U of T on November 5th at 8 p.m. at the MAC.
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