KINGSTON, Ont. (January 13, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team went up against the undefeated Ryerson Rams on Friday night at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), and came up short, falling to the No. 4 ranked team in the country 101-77.
 
Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) led the Gaels with a team-high 18 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) notched 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting, and Russell Winters (Long Island, N.Y.) added 12 points for Queen's, who drop to 6-3 on the season and 3-1 at the ARC. The Rams (10-0) were led by Adika Peter-McNeilly and Ammanuel Diressa, who each tallied a game-high 21 points.
 
GAME FLOW
Ryerson showcased its offensive prowess early in the match, as the Rams jumped out to a 16-2 lead, thanks in large part to Peter-McNeilly, who hit his first three shot attempts from beyond the arc inside the opening four minutes of the quarter. Singh and Winters exchanged back-to-back threes to cut into the Rams advantage, but the hosts still faced a 10-point deficit at the end of the opening period.
 
The Gaels picked up the first five points of the second quarter, and went on an 11-3 run that brought them within two points the Ryerson lead. An Iheadindu three would cut the lead to a single point moments later, but the Gael offense went cold as the men didn't hit another field goal for four minutes. Queen's went into the half down 43-36.
 
Singh started the second half with a quick three, but the Rams went on a quick 7-0 run in response before Iheadindu nailed a corner jumper. Ryerson continued to pour in the offense, as Juwon Grannum picked up back-to-back lay-ups to push the Rams lead up to 15 with 4:45 left in the third quarter. Roshane Roberts then poked the ball loosed and picked it up for an easy lay-in, extending the Ryerson lead up to 20.
 
The visitors took a comfortable 19-point lead into the fourth-quarter, and paced themselves to a 10th straight conference victory.
 
Ryerson shot an impressive 50% (36-72) in the victory, while the Gaels worked at a 36.9% (24-65) efficiency. Queen's picked up 34 rebounds compared to 44 from the Rams, and were 18-of-22 from the free-throw line.
 
FINAL SAY
"They (Ryerson) showed why they are a top five team in the country," said head coach Steph Barrie. "And defensively we were just not sharp enough in a lot of different categories, transition defense in particular. When you give a team like that an opportunity to run freely, they can really crush you in that part of the game. So we are going to have to regroup pretty quickly, as we have a very tough Toronto team coming in tomorrow night that we are going to have to deal with."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
101- It was the first time this season the Gaels gave up over 100 points
1st- Ryerson is ranked first in the conference, averaging 94.5 points per game
18- Richard Iheadindu's 18 points scored on Friday was a season-high
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels return to the ARC on Saturday night to host the Toronto Varsity Blues. Tip-off is set for approximately 8:00 p.m.