The unpredictability of a single-game elimination tournament can only be fathomed by those who feel in sport, something the Men’s basketball team felt all too well last week.
The Queen’s Men’s Basketball team, after a successful 15-7 season, hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs on Feb. 18. The Varsity Blues are the 11th seed in the OUA, with a final record of 11-11 in the regular season. The Gaels only matchup this season against the Varsity Blues was just a couple of weeks prior, a tight game that ended in an 85-82 Gaels win.
The game began as a high-pace offensive matchup with both teams trading points early in the first quarter. The Gaels, wanting to make their deep ball threat known, attempted 11 3-pointers, making five of them. Despite the back and forth, the Gaels would take a four-point lead.
In the second quarter, the Gaels took control of the game, off the stellar performance of Gaels second year guard Ollie Engen, Kin ’28, who put up 13 of his 25 points in the game. With Engen taking over the game, Queen’s would have a 13-point lead at half and all the momentum heading into the third quarter.
The Gaels would continue to push early in the third quarter, defending their double-digit lead. However, the Varsity Blues would find a little glimmer of hope late in the quarter, following four made free throws and a 3-pointer with eight seconds to cut the lead to just seven.
The fourth quarter began with the Varsity Blues riding the high of the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the quarter and effectively taking a three-point lead. The Varsity Blues brigade wouldn’t stop as they would continue to strengthen their lead to eight points. The Gaels however, would tighten up on defence and hit four 3-pointers in the final, two from Lucas Ponting, Comm ’27, and two from Noah Khaja, ArtSci ’29, to take a two-point lead with 28 seconds remaining. After the Varsity Blues tied it up with a late lay-up, forcing OT.
In the five-minute overtime frame, the Varsity Blues would strike first and never seemed to let Queens pull away, as every score came with an answer. While in extras, the Gaels shooting would go cold, as they only completed two of seven shots. They would still have a late opportunity to tie the game late, but to no avail, and the Varsity Blues took the game 99-96, moving onto the OUA quarterfinal.
The loss stings for Queen’s as not only did they have a large lead in the third quarter, but also struggled to score even after scoring 96 in the game. The Gaels shot just 40 per cent from field goals and 50 per cent from free throws. The result isn’t what the team was building toward this year, but rest assured, this young group will be relatively the same next year with a vengeance from this heartbreaking loss.
Tags
Basketball, Elimination, Men's Basketball, Toronto Varsity Blues
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