TORONTO - The in-form Ryerson Rams men's basketball team will be taking on the Guelph Gryphons in the first round of the OUA playoffs this Wednesday on home court. 

The Rams, who placed as the number five seed in the OUA with a 16-6 record, will be playing the 10-12 Gryphons who placed in the 12th and last playoff seed. 

Despite the Gryphons' seed and record, they recently gave the Rams a lot of trouble, as it took an impressive comeback win from the Rams to defeat them just a couple of weeks ago.

The Rams were in the middle of their hot streak when they visited the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre and after a resilient second and third quarter shown by the Gryphons, the home team found themselves up 11 points with five minutes left in the game. The Rams, however, found a way back and went on a 21-4 run in the last four and a half minutes to secure a 91-85 win, their smallest margin of victory of their last ten games. 

That 21-4 run was catalyzed greatly by Tevaun Kokko's 13 points in the last four minutes of that game, a run that left the Gryphons stunned in which they had no answer for. The comeback looked to be probable once Tanor Ngom (Dakar, Senegal) got up for a monstrous block to keep the Rams ahead, which was easily one of the Ryerson Rams' plays of the week. 

Looking towards Wednesday's matchup, the Rams will most definitely be weary of Guelph's high volume shooting, as they have taken a high number of three-point shots all season and made 13 against the Rams last time out - compared to just six by the Rams.

The Gryphons are also on a three-game win streak to end the season, defeating the Varsity Blues and the Algoma Thunderbirds twice. 

As impressive as the Rams have looked offensively, their defence has shown to be their most important asset this season. Much to do with their long perimeter defenders like Keevon Small (Montreal, Que.), Tom Dumont (Montreuil, France), Mouhamed Ndiaye (Longueuil, Que.) and of course Ngom in the paint, the Rams hold their opponents to the lowest field goal and three-point percentage in the OUA. 

The Gryphons also rank quite high in turnovers this season, something the Rams will look to exploit as they tend to force teams to turn it over a lot, including their most recent game against the No. 6 Voyageurs where they scored a huge 42 points off turnovers. 

Coming into the playoffs winning 12 of their last 13 games, the Rams seem to be peaking at the right time after a rough start to the season. It is apparent that they are carrying themselves with a chip on their shoulder, perhaps not forgetting their five losses suffered in the early part of the season. 

Wednesday's match will be played on Coca-Cola Court at 6:00 p.m. and will also be available on OUA.tv.