By Raphael Chahinian
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team came away with a dominant 81-69 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Third-year guard Ankit Choudhary was happy to be back at the MAC, especially since the team hadn’t played at home since Nov. 19.
“It feels great knowing that we’ve got plenty of home games coming up this month, but overall just understanding within the team that we’ve got to protect this home court,” said Choudhary.
The Bold came out shaky to start and struggled to create opportunities in the half court due to the Gryphon’s tight zone defence. The same could be said about Guelph’s offence who was being stifled by fourth-year forward Lincoln Rosebush, who anchored the Bold’s defence with four blocks on the night and twice as many shots disrupted by his length.
“Having trust that the rest of the team is behind me and ready to help me out lets me do my job and help them out down low,” said Rosebush.
The opening frame showed Wednesday’s contest would be a competitive matchup, ending with a score of 19-14 in favour of the Gryphons.
TMU put their foot on the gas and began to catch their stride in the second quarter. After a transition basket, the Bold started pressing full court and never looked back. Once they regained the lead at 27-25, they were in control for the rest of the night.
“That press gave us energy to get some easy baskets, and when you get easy baskets on a night like tonight where you’re struggling, it’s the biggest thing for us and takes off a little pressure,” said head coach David DeAveiro.
With the Bold up double-digits going into the half, both teams slowed down their offences and tried to create better opportunities with set plays and to break each other’s defensive schemes.
With the Gryphons trying to mount a comeback, Choudhary put up eight-straight points for the Bold that included two three-pointers and a perfectly executed step-back from mid-range. Choudhary’s strong shooting helped the Bold close out the frame with a 61-52 lead.
“I know with the way that our offence is setup, when the ball starts moving, I can start getting into my rhythm,” said Choudhary.
With the Bold’s confidence rising, they shifted their game to try and look for more opportunities in the paint and with that came their largest lead of the night at 17 points. DeAveiro said The Bold are happy to have this win in the books, but are hungry for more as the second half of the season ramps up.
“We had a good night, but we have to be consistent, our goal for the second half of the season is to be consistent, championship teams aim to have a good night every night,” said DeAveiro.
UP NEXT: The Bold host the York University Lions on Jan. 7 at the MAC. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
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