TORONTO - A new regular season tipped off Friday night for the Ryerson Rams men's basketball team with the Rams winning 103-51.
Ryerson comes into the season with the hopes of getting to the U SPORTS Final 8 weekend for the fifth straight year and tonight was a good way to start.
It was Ryerson early and Ryerson often. The Rams took momentum of the game in the first minute thanks to a big Tanor Ngom block. From there Ryerson ran off a 19-0 run not allowing a Toronto point in the first six minutes of the game.
The Rams continued to control the game and had a commanding 30-8 lead after the first.
The second quarter was more of the same for Ryerson, with the Rams outclassing the Varsity Blues on both ends of the court. Behind big three-point shooting and dunks from the offence and strong defence the Rams took a 58-16 lead into the half.
Two players who stood out for the Rams were Jayden Frederick and Keevon Small. Frederick spent two seasons with the York Lions before transferring to Ryerson making him ineligible for the 2017-18 season. But in his first regular season action for the Rams he made the most of his opportunity.
Returning to the Rams lineup was Keevon Small. Small was forced to miss the second half of the 2017-18 season but made sure to make his presence known in his first game back.
Rams associate head coach Borko Popic said, “Those guys had an impact tonight, they had an impact in the preseason. It's what we expect from them; they're getting in the rotation and making contributions on both ends of the floor.”
Not much changed in the second half as Ryerson's offence was too much to handle and in their first game of the regular season they broke the 100-point mark. That's something they haven't done since Jan. 21, 2017 when they beat Waterloo 100-68.
The Rams had five players in double digits highlighted by Filip Vujadinovic's 25 points. Popic spoke about the depth after the game. “We have a range of guys that on any given night can contribute in a variety of ways.”
Ryerson will be back in action Wednesday, Oct. 31 when they play the Guelph Gryphons at 8 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
