LONDON, Ont. – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball squad added another victim to their postseason onslaught on Saturday, overpowering the second-best offensive team in the province in an impressive 101-78 win over the Western Mustangs and advancing to the league semifinal.
Three of TMU's starters, Aaron Rhooms, Maxime Louis-Jean and Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow, shined to help the Bold hit the century mark at Alumni Hall, combining for 65 points–23, 22 and 20 points respectively – while thriving in key moments to push the Mustangs aside with ease.
The Bold topped their offensive output from a dominant 89-63 win over the Guelph Gryphons that booked their spot in London from earlier in the week.
The Toronto side overwhelmed Western on Saturday by shooting nearly 56 percent from the field and most notably, converting on 14 of their 31 attempts from beyond the arc to wrap up the contest by the end of the third quarter.
The Bold bolted into high gear midway through the second quarter with a 13-0 run over a 2:15 span to take a 43-30 lead. TMU's ability to keep up with the Mustangs' high-flying offence was put into question after trailing the home side 23-20 at the end of the opening frame and surrendering a 7-2 run in the closing minutes.
Gilgeous-Glasgow helped put any, if not all of those doubts to rest by firing off eight points in under a minute to help the Bold outscore their opponent by a whopping 26-9 margin in the second frame and lead 46-32 at the break.
Rather than stumble with their hard-fought definitive lead entering the third, the Bold got right back into their offensive groove to build an even greater gap and help stick a foot into the third round of the league playoff.
The group continued to circulate their offense through the perimeter of the paint, with the only switch-up coming in the form of which player received the lion's share of the ball.
First-year guard, Louis-Jean, became that option for the Bold in the third, converting on all five of his shots from beyond the arc to annihilate any lingering life in the home crowd and propel the visitors to a compelling 73-54 lead entering the final frame.
Rhooms, the league's leading scorer, helped put a bow on the Bold's integral playoff win with a team-high seven points in the fourth quarter. The group pulled away with a 10-1 run late in the contest to punch their ticket to the OUA semi final set to take place on Mar. 1 against the winner of Saturday's late-night matchup between the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Laurentian Voyageurs.
The Bold will look to take the offensive positives from their last two routes and integrate them into their game plan during the penultimate round of the league tournament.
Next Saturday's contest will be TMU's first appearance in the league semi final since 2019–the same postseason run that landed them a spot in the league final and most notably, the U SPORTS National Championship.
