KINGSTON, Ont. (February 26, 2016)- Adika Peter-McNeilly hit the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds left in regulation, and the CIS No. 3 ranked Ryerson Rams survived a scare from the host Queen's Gaels on Saturday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), topping the upstart Gaels by a score of 70-68.
 
Sukhpreet Singh tallied a game-high 23 points for the Gaels, and put his team up by one point on a great drive to the basket with just 5.9 seconds left in regulation.
 
Coming out of their timeout, the Rams (16-2) were able to find McNeilly on the top right corner for the three-point shot that capped off arguable one of the most entertaining games of the CIS season. Tanner Graham put up a quick attempt from the deep right corner on Queen's next inbounds, but his shot bounced off the deep rim and out.
 
Ammanuel Diressa picked up a team-best 14 points for Ryerson, while Graham and Andrew Mavety added 14 and 11 respectively for the Gaels, who shot 33.8% from the field. The men were able to hold the second-ranked offense in the CIS, who normally averages north of 90 points per game, to just 70 points and a modest 35.2% shooting efficiency.
 
GAME FLOW
Ryerson used an impressive 50.0% shooting efficiency in the first 10 minutes of the contest in jumping out to a 22-19 lead after one quarter of play. The Gaels were able to keep pace through the early part of the game after the Rams got into early foul trouble and found themselves in the penalty just over two and a half minutes into the first.
 
Queen's drained 7-of-8 free-throws and found themselves down by a single possession despite having to negotiate with a potent Ryerson offence throughout the opening quarter.
 
Both offenses quieted down in the early part of the second, as the teams combined for one basket over the first three and a half minutes of the period. Singh (Toronto) caught fire soon after, however, draining consecutive shots from beyond the arc to tie the game at 25-25.
 
After Graham (Kingston) notched the Gaels third three-pointer in a row to push the hosts in front, the teams traded the advantage leading into the halftime break. The teams entered the locker rooms with the Ryerson maintaining a three-point lead.
 
Another Graham three brought the Gaels within two, and Singh tied the game with a stop-and-shoot after a strong drive to the net early in the third quarter. Ryall Stroud (Toronto) capped off a 7-2 Gaels run to open the second half with a short jumper that put the hosts in front. No more than two points separated the squads throughout the third, as the teams exchanged the lead on numerous occasions.
 
As the third-quarter buzzer neared, Mavety (Vancouver, B.C.) hit a two-pointer to put Queens in front, but Peter-McNeilly responded with a three as time ran out to give the Rams a single-digit lead heading into the fourth.
 
The high-pace continued early in the final quarter, and neither side allowed the other to gain more than a single-possession advantage leading up to the midway point of the fourth. Mavety gave Queen's its biggest lead of the game at that point, putting the Gaels up by three with 6:44 left. The Rams responded by pulling within one on two straight possessions, and then Diressa got fouled by Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, Ont.) while attempting a three and proceeded to hit 2-of-3 free-throws to put Ryerson back in front.
 
Graham and Mavety responded with back-to-back three's to give the hosts a five-point lead with just over two minutes remaining. Ryerson responded coming out of its timeout with four-straight points in cutting the deficit to one. After forcing a shot-clock violation with some hard-nosed defence, the Rams re-took the lead after Diressa made both his free-throws following a Gaels foul.
 
Then began the final moments of the game where Singh's basket was followed by McNeilly's heroics.
 
FINAL SAY
"I thought we defended well which gave us a chance at the end," said Head Coach Stephan Barrie. "I'm not disappointed about the last shot; that was an incredible shot. But it should have never gotten to the last play. It was more with two minutes left, we had some plays that put us in a bad spot at that point. We were two plays from putting the game away and we had them go the other way, which got them right back in the game."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
8- Neither team led by more than single digits throughout the contest, the largest lead was eight by the Rams
18- The lead changed 18 times throughout Friday's game, and was tied on 12 occasions
10- The rebounding difference, as Ryerson pulled down 51 boards compared to 41 from the Gaels
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels return to the ARC on Saturday evening to close out the regular season against the Toronto Varsity Blues. Tip-off is set for approximately 8:00 p.m.