By Gavin Axelrod
The Toronto Metropolitan Bold (TMU) men’s basketball team staved off a late push from the Brock Badgers to down the No. 6 team in the country 74-63 on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
TMU’s victory over Brock came 24 hours after the two teams squared off one night earlier in St. Catherines, Ont., where they fell 71-74. Saturday’s contest was another tightly-contested, physical battle between the two squads.
“It’s hella physical,” said second-year star Aaron Rhooms. “Yesterday we were getting beat up on the glass and in the paint and what not, so we were ready today … They’re a physical team and we were able to match them.”
Rhooms carried his hot hand from Friday’s loss against the Badgers into Saturday’s contest. He scored 21 points the night prior and poured in 13 points in Saturday’s opening quarter.
His scorching start was good for 13 of TMU’s 23 points in the first 10 minutes of action.
Elsewhere around the lineup, first-year guard Isaiah McCrae drew the lead ball handler role, stepping in for third-year Ankit Choudhary. McCrae made good use of his minutes, chipping in three points, four rebounds and one assist.
The Bold’s lead grew to 10 points nearly midway through the second quarter when Rhooms hit an off-balance jumper to make it 30-20. As he moved to 15 points, Rhooms inched closer to surpassing his total from Friday’s loss to Brock.
TMU continued its dominance over Brock throughout the remainder of the first half. But more impressive than the Bold’s lead was its ability to keep all Badgers’ scorers under double digits in the opening 20 minutes
“Some of our guys that we depend on had a tough night last night, but we still had a chance to win,” said DeAveiro. “I thought that if we came out today and gave that same kind of defensive effort, and our guys usually score score, we’d be in good shape tonight.”
Saturday’s contest was also senior night and the final regular season basketball game at the MAC this year. TMU celebrated final-year players Liam O’Leary-Orange, Jaren Jones and Nick Hamilton.
While all of the team’s seniors bring something different to the group, there’ll potentially never be another player like Hamilton at TMU.
The forward is a walk-on, meaning he made the team through an open tryout. Making things more impressive is the fact that he played five years with the squad and grew into what DeAveiro has called one of his most important players throughout the season.
“Before I came here in the first the first week, they told me I’d probably never play, I’d probably never get a jersey and I’d probably never dress,” said Hamilton.
The tide of Saturday’s game began to turn with under five minutes left in the third quarter.
Brock cut into the Bold’s lead and made it a 55-49 ball game two minutes and change to play in the quarter. Suddenly the contest—which looked like it’d be a runaway victory for the Bold—got interesting.
Rhooms broke the dry spell with a three-pointer at the 1:24 mark, which was the Bold’s first bucket since O’Leary-Orange made a layup with 5:06 remaining in the quarter. TMU withstood the run, but they had only a seven-point lead at the end of quarter number three.
“We had good shots, we just weren’t making them like we made them in the first half,” said DeAveiro. “You just got to play through that and trust your defence and I thought our guys did that.”
Saturday’s fourth quarter was when the game kicked into high gear.
There were duelling celebrations from Badgers fans that made the trip to Toronto and the Bold faithful. Each time the teams traded buckets the fans from either side rose to their feet.
But it was the Badgers who had a clear advantage despite TMU clinging to a two-point lead with under five minutes in the game.
They forced the Bold into bad shots and turned steals into transition buckets. However, as much as TMU’s lead looked to be in jeopardy, they managed to weather the storm.
“I think we had it throughout the whole game,” said Rhooms. “I’m saying like from first quarter to the end and I think we’re getting there to have a complete game.”
The focus for the Bold now turns to the playoffs, which begin on Wednesday. And with a win over another nationally ranked opponent, the Bold could slide themselves into the U Sports Top 10 on Tuesday.
“I think we’re one of the top teams right now,” said Rhooms. “We proved it tonight and we proved it before versus Carleton and other teams.”
UP NEXT: The playoffs begin on Wednesday and the Bold will host a pivotal clash at the MAC. Start time is to be announced.
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