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MBB: Jaaden Lewis vs. Laurentian, Mar. 6, 2022
Photo by Curtis Martin
66
Laurentian LAURENTI 6-8, 6-8
70
Winner Ryerson RYERSON 8-6, 8-6
Laurentian LAURENTI
6-8, 6-8
66
Final
70
Ryerson RYERSON
8-6, 8-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Laurentian LAURENTI 13 17 21 15 66
Ryerson RYERSON 24 10 17 19 70

Game Recap: Basketball (M) | | Christina Flores-Chan

Rams sweep series with Voyageurs, secure home court for first playoff game

TORONTO - The Rams men's basketball team has earned home court advantage in the first round of playoffs, following their 70-66 victory against the Laurentian Voyageurs Saturday afternoon. The win wraps up the team's regular season, securing them in fourth place in the OUA East. 

While the postseason kicks off for the Rams on March 16 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the visiting team still remains to be seen, as Laurentian, Toronto, and Nipissing fight for fifth place in the OUA East division. 

"Until we find out who we're going to play, we're really going to watch the tapes and focus on us," head coach David DeAveiro says. 

"We need to get better at certain things, like our defence and our rotations," he says. "So we're going to worry about us for the next little while, before we worry about whoever the other team is."

And Saturday's game gave DeAveiro lots of tape to work with.

The Rams wasted no time heating up in a high-scoring first quarter. 

Senior Jaaden Lewis stayed in constant motion, shooting 83 per cent from the field and putting up 12 points throughout the quarter, two of which were from downtown. 


Going into the second, the Rams were up 24-15.

Laurentian played with urgency in the second quarter, tightening up the score gap.

The Rams stayed alert on defence though, grabbing rebounds and turning them into opportunities at the net. Elijah Roye and Nick Hamilton had five and four rebounds, respectively, by half time, and the team led by four.


The game got tight in the third, as the Voyageurs managed to tie up the score. 

For every basket that the Rams put up, Laurentian seemed to match it, and what ensued was a messier, scrappier version of both teams in the remainder of the quarter. 


At the end of the third, the game was tied with 51 points on either side of the scoreboard.


The first minutes of the final quarter saw the Rams struggling to hold onto the lead and even letting it go for part of the fourth, but by the end of the game, they'd toppled their opponent in a doubleheader sweep and secured home court for the first round of playoffs.

As veterans like Lewis and Stefan Kojovic prepare to finish off their U SPORTS careers, young talent like Roye, Aaron Rhooms, and Ankit Choudhary are just beginning. 

And with unlucky injuries in the second half of the season and a postseason run ahead of them, every contribution to the team matters.

"I just want to do everything I can to step up and support my team in any way I can," Roye says. "I learned a lot more about responsibility this year, and you always have to be ready to play because you never know when they'll need you."

The Rams will take a breather in the next few days before they prepare for OUA playoffs, but they'll be back playing on home court on March 16 for the first round. Stay tuned for details in the coming week.
 
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