By Will Baldwin
Rams forward Tanor Ngom scored a regular season career high 17 points as the Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team blew out the Guelph Gryphons 96-59 at the Coca-Cola Court on Oct. 31.
For Ngom, who tied for the team lead in points with guard Myles Charvis, performances like this should be expected from him this year.
“When I step on the court, I feel like I’m the best player out there,” said Ngom, who had 11 rebounds and a block as well. “I worked a lot this summer with Coach Rana.”
Ngom has drastically improved since arriving from Senegal to Ryerson last year, something Rams asistant coach Borko Popic attributes to his work ethic.
“He’s in the gym every day,” said Popic. “The improvements are apparent and he’s going to continue to get better because he’s committed and he’s driven.”
Ngom wasn’t the only Ram who played well, as five of his teammates finished in double figures seven played over 18 minutes.
“It’s tough to defend when you have so many weapons,” said Popic. “On any given night, different guys can step up and tonight it was kind of a mixed, combined effort if you will and it’s a luxury to have.”
Much like their home opener against the Toronto Varsity Blues, the Rams had another strong first quarter, taking a 27-10 lead that they wouldn’t look back from.
The game was highly physical, with over 50 total fouls called between both teams. Things nearly boiled over in the third quarter, when the Guelph’s Malcom Glanville was called for a technical for arguing with an official.
Glanville was the Gryphons leading scorer coming into the game, averaging over 20 points per contest.
The Rams, however, would make sure that he wouldn’t get things going, holding him to just five points on 1-13 shooting before he received the technical foul. Following the technical, he didn’t play for the reminder of the game.
Strong and stingy defence continues to be a story for the Rams, who once again held their opponent to under 60 points. The Gryphons struggled from the field all night, shooting a poor 25 per cent on the night.
UP NEXT: The Rams opened the week ranked second in U SPORTS’ first set of national rankings and will look to continue their hot start to the season on Saturday Nov. 3 against the Algoma Thunderbirds. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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