By Jonathan Reynoso
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team returned to the win column with a dominant 87-66 win over the McMaster Marauders on Nov. 8 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
In their first two games of the season against the Lakehead Thunderwolves, the Bold struggled mightily from three-point range—shooting a combined 9-48 from beyond the arc this past weekend.
“We had a terrible weekend at shooting the ball,” said Bold head coach Dave DeAveiro referring to the games against the Thunderwolves.
Wednesday night wasn’t the same case. The team as a whole shot 44 per cent from the field and a red-hot 38 per cent from behind the arc.
“We had a terrible weekend at shooting the ball”
“We got in the gym a lot,” said DeAveiro, attributing practice and repetition to their improvement in their three-point shooting.
In the game, the scoring started early with a smooth pull-up jumper from third-year forward Simon Chamberlain to tally TMU’s first bucket of the game.
A scoring flurry followed as the Bold started the game with an 11-0 run to grab the early lead.
To end the quarter, the Mauraders were able to go on an 8-0 run to challenge TMU’s lead, but the home side found an answer quickly.
A steal by fourth-year guard Adrian Stevens sparked a fast break for the Bold where third-year guard Marsei Caston completed the play with a nifty behind-the-back move. This led to a smooth layup to cap the quarter with a 25-16 lead.
Caston left his imprint on all facets of the game—racking up a stat line of 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists to go along with a block and two steals.
Caston tallied his two steals for the game in the first half with some tenacious on-ball defence.
“If this basketball stuff [doesn’t] work, I don’t know what’s gonna work for me,” said Caston. “I know what my life is about. I got to get paid off of basketball, I’m not trying to work no nine-to-five.”
The third-year guard takes pride in his defence which is an essential part of his game. Caston’s strong defence helped spark offence, scoring eight of his 17 points while sinking two triples in the second quarter to help the Bold sustain a 46-34 lead going into the half.
“That’s what gets my offence started, getting the energy from defence,” said Caston.
The third quarter got off to a shaky start for the Bold as they were being slowed by McMaster’s zone defence.
However, this didn’t last long. The Bold were able to stop the Mauraders’ momentum with a nifty basket cut from Caston for a tough and-one layup.
The defence held up for TMU in the third with the team doing a good job at closing out their defensive possessions with a rebound. Third-year Bold forward Aaron Rhooms had a game-high 15 rebounds.
“I got to get paid off of basketball. I’m not trying to work no nine-to-five”
DeAveiro was continuously out of his seat and yelling when the team was on defence to get their sets in order. At one point, DeAveiro focused his attention on fifth-year forward Lincoln Rosebush who was a key piece to TMU’s defensive dominance throughout the night.
“He’s the coach. There’s a reason why he’s here,” said Rosebush. “As one of the older guys on the team…if he can give it to me, he can give it to anybody.”
The pep talk worked well in settling the defence during the third, holding McMaster to 10 per cent shooting from deep in the quarter to help sustain their lead.
The fourth quarter proved more of the same as TMU’s hot shooting continued.
TMU shot 50 per cent from three in the fourth with a dagger three from fourth-year Bold guard David Walker to put the game to bed and give the Bold a 21-point win.
“We’ll just keep getting in the gym and working on our game,” said DeAveiro. “If teams want to let us shoot threes, we’ll keep shooting them.”
UP NEXT: TMU hopes to continue their winning ways against the Brock Badgers on Saturday at the MAC. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.
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