TORONTO - The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball team extended their winning streak over the York Lions with an 83-72 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Aaron Rhooms recorded a 20 point, 12 rebound double-double to lead the Bold while Lamar Everd had a strong performance with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks. 

The Lions threatened with a strong opening to the third quarter, going on a 14-0 run at one point. However, the Bold responded with an 8-0 run to finish the third and a strong fourth quarter to close out the victory. 

"In that third quarter defensively we could've been much better," said Ankit Choudhary, who had an 18-point performance himself.

"It's just a matter of reminding ourselves of our principles, who we are, what we've been practicing and bringing energy to whatever we do. We saw it there in that stretch when we were able to close the gap," said Rhooms on the back-and-forth third quarter. 

Despite the Bold offence moving the ball well at times, they were kept out of rhythm throughout the game.

"We were never in sync," said Bold head coach David DeAveiro. 

"We kind of looked like the Raptors a little bit," he added laughingly. 

TMU finished with 27 turnovers and shot 27.8 percent from beyond the arc. "Credit to their defence, they were successful, they were aggressive, they got in the passing lanes, they got in the spaces and made things difficult for us," said DeAveiro.

Nonetheless, the Bold defence came out strong in the final ten minutes in response, forcing eight turnovers in the fourth quarter. This directly led to their offence as they took nine points off those turnovers, a key difference in the tight matchup. 

"We've been really emphasizing and imposing our will, especially in the fourth quarter of games," said DeAveiro. "I think what we showed ourselves today is that when we lock in and play with energy on defence, it's hard to score on us."  

"It's just a matter of trusting each other and trusting the system," said Rhooms. 

The Bold look to extend their run of seven wins in their last nine games as they head on the road to take on the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. 

"They just beat the best team in the league," said DeAveiro. "Going on the road and beating a team that good will be a difficult task for us.

"It's going to be a tough matchup. We have to play our best. We have to be locked in defensively and share that ball. Get back to doing what we've done for most of the year." 

Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. next Saturday.