Queen’s Men’s Basketball fell to the Carleton Ravens on Wednesday in the OUA semifinals.
After a solid playoff campaign with victories over both Western and Brock, the Gaels ended their season in a respectable fashion.
The game on Feb. 22 against Western set the tempo for Queen’s playoff campaign. The Gaels battled hard for each point and pulled ahead late in the fourth with a dunk from Michael Kelvin II sealing the deal. From there, the games only got harder, but Queen’s was prepared.
“Our team philosophy is grit,” Kelvin II said in a press release.
“We have a great group of guys. We’re all super close on the court, off the court. We all understand each other very well, so we don’t really get frustrated with each other, we just find a way to fix it.”
Head Coach Stephen Barrie echoed a similar sentiment of resilience.
“There’s incredible belief in this group. I don’t think there will ever be a situation where we don’t think we’re going to win, and that was the case tonight and we were able to pull it out in the end.”
This grit carried the Gaels through their Feb. 25 game against Brock.
In a tough battle which ended in a 82-80 victory for Queen’s, both Cole Syllas and Kelvin II recorded double doubles. Connor Kelly also hit four threes in the win.
Cameron Bett came off the bench to score 24 points including six threes and went a perfect six for six from the free throw line. His perfect foul shooting came in clutch as his last two free throws stood as the two points that won the game.
After the Badgers, the first seed Ravens were next. The Gaels held their own in Ottawa on March 1, and the game stayed within one possession until the Ravens pulled ahead with seven straight successful free throws in the last minute.
It was a tough end for the Gaels as Luka Syllas fouled out in the last moments of the game and Coach Barrie got a technical. Carleton’s Grant Shepard put salt in the wound with a dunk in the last six seconds.
Although the Gaels didn’t get the result they wanted, they can be proud of the performance they gave. Queen’s used their roster and relied on their bench for a total of 38 points. They also did an excellent job of capitalizing on the Raven’s mistakes, scoring 16 points off turnovers.
Cole Syllas was the Gael to watch all game, especially after he dropped 39 points in last year’s upset playoff victory over the Ravens. This year, Carleton did a better job of controlling him, but they didn’t completely contain Syllas. He collected 25 points and played a vital role in keeping the score close as the game went on.
Even though Queen’s has been eliminated, there’s still a lot to celebrate with Cole Syllas being named OUA First Team All-Star and his brother Luka being named OUA Third Team All-Star. In addition, Coach Barrie has been named OUA Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
Tags
Basketball, Cameron Bett, Cole Syllas, OUA, playoffs
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