By Todd Ash-Duah
In their first exhibition game of the season, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team fell short against the Air Force Falcons on Tuesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The Air Force Falcons are a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They are currently in the middle of a Canadian tour to face a string of U Sports teams. Before taking on the Bold, the Falcons kicked off the tour on Monday night against the McMaster Marauders. The Falcons pulled away late in the fourth quarter to notch an 87-76 victory at the MAC.
Tuesday ended on a similar note, with the Falcons taking over in the fourth and soaring to a 62-55 victory. After the game, the Bold and Falcons swapped gifts and took photos with both teams.
“The number one thing that we wanted to see out of the team was to play with effort,” said lead assistant coach Jeremie Kayeye. “We’re playing a Division I team that had a lot more size [on the court than we did] and a lot more experience. So we wanted our guys to show no fear and play with effort.”
It was a defensive slugfest to begin the game, as both teams had trouble putting the ball in the basket—Air Force and TMU combined for nine points in the first 3:50 of the matchup. A series of turnovers and missed shots highlighted a first quarter marked by toughness and defensive intensity. At the end of the low-scoring first frame, the Bold held a 12-4 lead over the Falcons.
TMU continued to extend their lead over the visitors in the second quarter. A three-pointer by second-year guard Michael Kayembe sandwiching four points by fourth-year forward Elijah Roye gave the Bold a 22-12 lead near the halfway point of the frame. Shortly afterward, newly recruited guards Maxime Louis-Jean and Kevin Toth drilled back-to-back three-pointers to push TMU’s lead to 16 with just over three minutes to play in the quarter.
“The main key was to grab rebounds and push the pace,” said Louis-Jean.
The Falcons were not going to go down without a fight. With halftime approaching, the road team scored five consecutive points to get back into the game. Nevertheless, TMU was able to close the second quarter on a good note, as second-year guard Gabriel Gutsmore punctuated the Bold’s impressive quarter with a steal and powerful two-handed slam that galvanized the crowd at the MAC and gave the home team a 30-17 lead at the break.
“Our training camp was about [playing] non-stop, cutting through space, and moving up and down the court,” said Kayeye. “They [Air Force] had the size advantage, so we had to speed up the game.”
The Bold training camp featured several new faces, but one who appeared on Tuesday was unprecedented. Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander, the brother of Canadian Olympian and NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a former NCAA athlete, started for the Bold at forward, donning the number eight.
Kayeye said Gilgeous-Alexander’s signing to the team would be announced in the coming days.
The third quarter brought forth a firing match, with Falcons senior guard Ethan Taylor kicking things off by knocking down a mid-range jumper with the shot clock winding down. TMU responded quickly as Kayembe drilled a three-pointer, putting the Bold up by 14. Not to be outdone, Falcons sophomore forward Luke Kearney drilled a three-pointer from the wing getting hit, drawing a foul on Gilgeous-Alexander. Kearney knocked down the free throw to complete the four-point play, and senior guard Byron Brown scored inside the paint to cut the Bold’s lead back down to single digits.
Both teams continued to trade baskets to end the third quarter, with TMU holding a 42-38 lead heading into the fourth. With increased defensive intensity and improved shotmaking, the Falcons were able to outscore the Bold 21-12 in the frame.
TMU got off to an excellent start in the final frame, as a layup by fifth-year guard Jahcobi Neath followed by a corner three by second-year forward Galand Okeugo put the Bold back up by nine points. Neath, who was the first recruit of the Bold’s 2023 recruiting class, didn’t play last season after undergoing multiple hip surgeries.
Once again though, the Falcons would not go quietly into the night, as they went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a three-point play by sophomore forward Kolby Gilles to make it a three-point game with just over seven minutes left to play in regulation.
A few possessions later, Air Force took the lead for the first time when Taylor made a nifty backdoor cut and dunked to give the visitors a 49-48 lead. After the Falcons converted a couple of free throws after a foul by the Bold, a putback by Okeugo tied the game at 51 with just a little over four minutes. The visitors quickly re-took the lead with a three-pointer by senior forward Beau Becker.
“At the beginning [of the game], we had our run, then they had their run,” said Louis-Jean. “It’s a game of runs and they had the last one.”
With Air Force leading 57-52, Neath drilled a deep three-pointer to cut the Falcons’ lead to two points. However, on the next possession with the shot clock winding down, Taylor hit a contested three to effectively put the game out of reach for the Bold. But even in the loss, TMU can hold its head up high, knowing that it gave a strong NCAA program a run for its money.
“To do this shows that our team has taken the next step,” said Kayeye. “Now, we’ve got to put it together in training camp to make it happen this year.”
UP NEXT: The Bold continue their pre-season training ahead of their regular season opener on Oct. 25 against the Nipissing Lakers.
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