By Daniel Carrero
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team won 81-67 against the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) Heat in an unprecedented matchup at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
The UBCO Heat are a Canada West Universities Athletic Association team based in Kelowna, BC. They are currently in the middle of their pre-season campaign facing three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) teams. Before taking on the Bold, the Heat faced the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks and will finish their OUA tour against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
In the matchup against the Ridgebacks, the Heat put up a fair fight but fell just short, 81-84. In today’s game, the Bold dominated the first three quarters—maintaining a 20-point gap throughout—on route to a victory that extends their pre-season record to 3-1.
The first quarter was controlled by TMU from the get-go, after a round of pressure led by fourth-year guard Aaron Rhooms and first-year guard Maxine Louis-Jean. UBCO struggled as they were only able to score from the free throw line in the first few minutes of the game.
After second-year guard Gabriel Gutsmore ran across the court, dribbled past UBCO’s defence and scored a two-pointer just inside the arc—making the score 13-4— the Heat felt the need to call a timeout.
UBCO didn’t take advantage of the timeout and allowed the Bold to perfect their play, putting up six unanswered points to extend their lead to 17-4. It was at that point, however, that their main issue across the game became apparent: persistent fouling. The Bold had seven fouls by the end of the first quarter.
Nevertheless, the attacking force from the Bold secured a comfortable result, as they were doubling UBCO in points.
Tension started to build up in the second quarter when first-year guard Landon Wright and second-year Heat forward Lamine Conde started a small brawl, resulting in a foul in TMU’s favour. The team and the players on the bench built off the energy generated by the dispute, keeping their scoring run going.
Still, with eight minutes left in the half, the Bold called for a timeout. Their disorganization in their defensive half allowed UBCO to close down the gap and head coach David DeAveiro looked to reorganize his team and sent second-year forward Galand Okeugo onto the court.
Fouls were still TMU’s biggest threat, with 11 fouls by the end of the second quarter. DeAveiro was furious with his team and kept telling them to “stop fouling” repeatedly during the quarter.
The number of fouls from TMU meant an opportunity for the Heat to recover and catch up, as free throws were a big part of their 22 points in the second quarter—their most in any quarter in the game.
After another timeout with the score at 44-33, the Bold finally reorganized. With Rhooms in the driver’s seat and Okeugo aiding with eight of his 10 points in the games, the Bold scored seven unanswered points and finished the quarter with a 17-point lead.
In the third quarter, fourth-year forward Aidan Wilson stole the ball in the middle of the court from Heat fifth-year Jas Dhudwal. With no defence in his way, the Burnaby, B.C., product dunked the ball and smacked the backboard in a celebratory way. As a result, he was handed a technical foul.
Wilson’s afternoon got more chaotic from there. With four minutes left in the quarter and the scoreboard showing 63-45 in the Bold’s favour, the Bold forward jumped to grab a rebound under TMU’s basket and bumped into third-year Heat forward Wisdom Sunday. The situation escalated and resulted in both players exchanging words while grabbing and pulling each other’s shirts.
After the fight ended, the officials deliberated and Wilson was ejected from the game. The forward left the court and continued to watch his team carry on with the 63-46 advantage from The Lookout above the court.
Going into the fourth quarter with a 70-50 result, TMU stepped off the gas and tried controlling the amount of fouls they were committing. The effort worked in the first three minutes of the quarter but Okeugo, first-year forward Andrejs Silconoks, and first-year guard Kevin Toth combined for four fouls in eight seconds. UBCO didn’t get much more than possession and two points out of the fouls, as the Bold’s lead remained safe.
With four minutes left on the clock, Rhooms grabbed the ball near the arc and feigned a pass to the wing that liberated him from his defender. The Toronto product then swished the ball into the basket to reach 25 points for the afternoon, a game-high. Rhooms was the player of the game for the Bold, also finishing with 12 rebounds, three assists and a block.
The rest of the game saw both teams completely release their foot off the gas and let the time pass. The Bold cruised to an 81-67 victory and continued their pre-season winning streak.
UP NEXT: The Bold continue their pre-season schedule against the Memorial University Sea-Hawks on Oct. 11 at Kerr Hall. Tip-off is set at 3:30 p.m.
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