TORONTO — The No. 2 Ryerson Rams are set to host the No. 6 Brock Badgers in the Critelli Cup Final on Saturday evening at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. 

The Rams punched their ticket to the OUA championship on Wednesday evening in Ottawa after defeating the No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees 84-76 on the road; in the same game, the Rams also secured their spot at the 2020 U SPORTS Final 8 national championship tournament in March. 

Ryerson is set to host the league championship for the first time in program history, facing off against the Badgers for the third time this season. The OUA Central rivalry has heated up this season with the onset of the new league alignment. The teams exchanged wins in the regular season, with the Badgers earning a 68-58 victory on October 26 in St. Catharines and the Rams most recently taking an 81-66 win on February 1 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Brock boasted a 17-5 record in the regular season, suffering losses to Carleton, York, Ryerson, Guelph and Western. The team earned a postseason bye through to the OUA quarter-finals where they defeated the Windsor Lancers 61-57 at the Bob Davis Gymnasium in St. Catharines. They went on to upset the No. 5 Western Mustangs 89-85 in the semifinals on Wednesday evening, booking a trip to the Critelli Cup championship and the U SPORTS Final 8 tournament. 

Brock's Melissa Tatti has been a key piece of the Badgers' success this season. The 2019-20 OUA Player of the Year led the league with 407 points in the regular season, topping the OUA in points per game (18.5), minutes per game (35.8), and assists (145) while also contributing 2.5 steals, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. Third-year centre Samantha Keltos also boasted impressive regular season numbers, totaling 15.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals in 27.9 minutes per contest.  

The Badgers have seen a lot of success beyond the arc this year, both in terms of scoring and defending. The third best three-point shooting team in the league boasted a 31.5 three-point percentage while averaging 8.1 three-pointers made per game in the regular season. They also limited the opposition to low numbers from beyond the arc, with opponents shooting just 24.7 percent.  They've averaged 65 points per game in the 2020 Critelli Cup playoffs while allowing opponents to score just 61 per contest.  

While their defence and three-point shooting is certainly a strength, the team has their weaknesses. Brock has netted just five bench points across two postseason competitions, pailing in comparison to Ryerson's 23; the Rams' depth serves as a major advantage for the home team. The Badgers have also fallen behind by ten or more points at halftime of each of their playoff matchups so far; limiting Brock's second-half push will be crucial to the Rams' success in the game, no matter the score after 20 minutes of play. Tatti has also played all 40 minutes in Brock's previous matchups while scoring the majority (28 of 37) of her postseason points in the third and fourth quarters. Again, the Rams will need to play shut-down defence in the second half of Saturday's matchup to gain an advantage nearing the final minutes of the game. 

The Rams are set to chase their second OUA banner in program history and their first since 2016 on Saturday evening in Toronto. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. on the Coca-Cola Court; the game can be streamed live at OUA.tv and tickets can be purchased here. 

Ryerson students will receive a 50% off coupon to Salad King when they swipe their OneCard to any or all of the Rams games on Saturday. Fans purchasing tickets for the Critelli Cup final are also able to attend the Rams women's hockey team's semifinal game which begins at 7:15.