By Armen Zargarian
The Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) men’s basketball team beat the York Lions 83-72 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
The Bold took a 12-point lead into halftime and maintained the lead for most of the game, but fell down by nine points in the third quarter.
“We could have gone away and I wasn’t going to call a timeout,” said head coach David DeAveiro. “We had to grow up, figure it out and find a way.”
TMU’s counterpunch late in the third quarter helped take a three point edge into the fourth quarter.
“We showed today that when we lock in and play with energy on defence it’s tough to score on us,” said DeAveiro.
The Bold began the game by converting two Lions turnovers into layups for Aaron Rhooms and Ankit Choudhary. But a temporary 3-2 zone by the Lions gave the Bold their own turnover troubles, forcing them to cough up the ball six times in the first quarter.
The turnover theme continued for the Bold throughout the game, they finished with 27 turnovers and only 12 assists.
“We were standing around a lot and dribbling the ball way too much,” said DeAveiro.
The Bold won the second quarter by five points and a Choudhary layup pushed the lead all the way to 12 with 2:02 left in the quarter.
“We wanted this one, especially coming back from the break,” said Choudhary. “Also taking care of our home court.”
Lions guard Prince Kamunga went on a mini 5-0 run to end the half by hitting a baseline fadeaway followed by a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The half ended 35-28 in favour of the Bold.
Kamunga started the second half how he ended the first, with a left-handed three pointer to cut the lead to only four points. Kamunga finished the game with a game-high 29 points on 53 per cent shooting.
“He has the ability to affect the defensive end and the offensive end,” said DeAveiro.
The Lions clawed away at TMU’s lead until a transition layup from Travon Hamilton tied the game with 4:58 left in the third quarter. The Lions followed up by going on a 9-0 run that was exclaimed by a thunderous dunk by Somto Dimanochie.
Now facing a nine point deficit, the Bold recomposed themselves and took back the lead, 57-54, heading into the final quarter.
The Bold’s leading scorers on the season, Rhooms and David Walker, took control with six minutes left in the game. Rhooms hit a corner triple and Walker followed up by converting a traditional three-point play.
Walker blocked a three-point attempt that led to an and-one dunk for Rhooms that punctuated the Bold’s fourth straight victory.
“We’re feeling good but there’s things we need to key in on and fix,” said Rhooms. “We’re hoping that we can carry the momentum forward into March.”
The Bold will look for their fifth straight win next week against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
“They’re a well coached and talented team, got some key veteran guys, it will be a tough game on the road for us,” said DeAveiro.
UP NEXT: TMU will face the Laurier Goldenhawks at 3 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Athletic Complex in Waterloo.
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