TORONTO – The No. 6 ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball team steamrolled their way to a fourth-straight win with a convincing effort against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday.
For the fourth time in five games, Aaron Rhooms paced the Bold scorers with 26 points to help guide his side to a 91-62 victory and end TMU's four-game homestand on a high.
Gabriel Gutsmore finished the night with a pair of entertaining dunks and a new season-high of 18 points, while Jahcobi Neath rounded out the Bold offense with nine points in his first OUA game of 2024.
The home side overwhelmed the Lancers on both sides of the ball in the rout, frustrating the leaders in the OUA West for a 22-70 showing from the field and a season-worst 13.6 percent success rate from their shots beyond the arc.
Despite surpassing the 90-point plateau for the third time this season, Head Coach of the Bold David DeAveiro praised the efforts of his defense following the match, particularly in the way his side limited Windsor's top two scorers in Yohann Sam and Simeon Smith to a combined 12 points on the evening.
"Those two guys weren't going to beat us tonight," said DeAveiro. "Our DNA is defense and our guys came and established themselves defensively and it set the pace for the game."
Like the Bold, the Lancers entered Saturday's matchup on the back of a decisive victory in midweek action that saw them collectively knock down 41 percent of their shots from three-point range against the Varsity Blues.
The season-high for the Lancers failed to carry over into Saturday however, with the Bold defense silencing the visitors and forcing them to settle for their first successful three-point attempt of the night 5:07 into the third quarter.
The Bold capitalized on their 23-16 first-quarter lead to help distance themselves from the Lancers in the second. Six members of the Bold cashed in on their offensive opportunities in the middle frame to grow TMU's lead to 14 heading into halftime.
By the end of the third quarter, that lead grew to 28 as Rhooms found his groove offensively to the tune of 13 points to all but seal the deal on the Bold's sixth win of the campaign.
The Bold outscored the Lancers 17-16 in the fourth and final quarter, holding possession as the clock reached its final seconds in the blowout win.
The victory marks the fifth time in which the Bold held their opponent to under 65 points on the night and further cements the Bold at the summit of the league's defensive statistics this fall.
Exiting their miniature homestand with three wins in four contests, the blue and gold head to Waterloo, Ont. in a groove as they get set to take on the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday.
Tip-off from the Athletic Complex is set for 8 p.m. Watch the contest on OUA.tv.
