TORONTO – The fourth-ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball team were upset by the 10th-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday in an 86-64 home defeat to halt TMU's dominant winning streak at six games.
Head Coach of the Bold David DeAveiro tipped his cap to the Gee-Gee's defensive personnel for holding his side to their lowest offensive showing of the season following the loss.
"That defence is really outstanding. 64 points is a really great job," said DeAveiro in the aftermath of just his second loss of the campaign.
"They've been doing that to everybody. We're not the only team but they were just better than us tonight," he added.
Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow paced TMU with 18 points. Gabriel Gutsmore added seven points for the Bold and was integral for the home side in their attempt to slice the Gee-Gees' lead in the second half.
Ottawa's Ankit Choudhary led the visitors with 20 points. Choudhary suited up for the Bold for two seasons before joining the Gee-Gees, showing off his familiarity around the basket with a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line.
DeAveiro was not surprised by the damage of his former player.
"He's won games by himself for these guys when they were hurt and didn't have guys," said DeAveiro. "That's what he does," he added.
Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta and Justin Ndjock-Tadjore chipped in 20 and 13 points respectively to help land the Gee-Gees their fifth win in a row on Saturday.
Scoring by committee has become Ottawa's identity during their ascent towards the top of the national rankings and it showed in their second quarter with the Bold to guide the visitors to a six-point halftime lead.
Guemeta and Ndjock-Tadjore combined for 21 points through the first two quarters while Brock Newton got to work in TMU's paint. Newton collected six points and an assist in the second quarter alone while the Bold failed to land a three on a game-high nine attempts.
Despite putting up similar shooting numbers to the Gee-Gees from the field, the Bold struggled to get past Ottawa's Owen Kennedy, who's three blocks helped separate the two sides and mitigate TMU's production inside the paint.
To further amplify TMU's frustration on the offensive side of the court, Ottawa's Dragan Stajic began to heat up from beyond the arc in the third quarter to distance his team from the Bold even further.
Having already beaten the buzzer to end off the first quarter with a successful three-point attempt, Stajic added back-to-back three's to his resume in the third to give his side a ten-point cushion over the fourth-ranked Bold.
The Gee-Gees turned their win into a route in the fourth quarter, outscoring the momentum-less Bold 18-10 to secure the win.
The wheels began to fall off the tracks for TMU in the fourth, hitting on just four of their 16 attempts from field-goal range and failing to land a shot from beyond the arc on their four attempts.
The loss drops the Bold to 8-2 heading into the holiday break but fails to dampen the team's spirits heading into 2025. DeAveiro believes Saturday's defeat shows the work that still lies ahead for the Bold if the team wishes to be a national contender come the spring.
"We needed to have one of these [losses] to humble us a little bit," said DeAveiro.
"I'm really excited and really proud of what these guys accomplished. But again, this was a good test for us and letting us know that we're not at the upper-echelon."
The Bold return to action in the new year on Jan. 11 for a home contest with the Carleton Ravens. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Students can attend all TMU home games for free with their OneCard.
