KINGSTON, Ont. (January 14, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team came up just short on Saturday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre, dropping a nail-biter 75-71 to the Toronto Varsity Blues.
 
The Gaels (6-4) dropped their third game in a row, and second consecutive contest to a division rival in the Blues (8-4), who take over sole possession of second-place in the OUA East division (Queen's holds two games in-hand).
 
Sukhpreet Singh tallied a game-high 21 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 9-of-11 from the foul-line, while Tanner Graham earned a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Manny Sahota knocked down a team-best 16 points for the Blues.
 
GAME FLOW
The Varsity Blues got off to a hot start in the opening quarter, shooting 55.6% in the opening 10 minutes to take a seven-point lead at the end of the first. The guests connected for five points off of four Queen's turnovers in the quarter, while Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) dropped two three-point buckets to help the Gaels keep pace.
 
Isse Ibrahim (Toronto) picked up back-to-back lay-ups to bring the Gaels within two points of the lead. Reilly Reid notched a three to push the lead back up to four in the latter stages of the half, and after coming out of a timeout down by six, Singh went to work.
 
The Toronto native picked up the Gaels next five points, and the Gaels tied the game after a Blues' missed free-throw, which was scooped up and sent to a streaking Russell Winters (Long Island, N.Y.) for an easy lay-up that tied the game. The visitors would take a slim two-point advantage, 37-35, into the halftime break.
 
Singh and Reid each totalled 10 points to lead their respective squads through the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Graham (Kingston) started the second half with a three-point basket and then forced a Blues turnover and converted it into two more points to give the Gaels a three-point lead. Mike Blumel (Waterloo, Ont.) then drained consecutive lay-ups, spreading the advantage to six
 
A three-pointer from Sammy Ayisi capped off a 12-3 run at the 2:55 mark of the third, leading to a Blues timeout. The Toronto native then drained another long-range bucket coming out of the break, spreading the Gaels lead to double-digits for the first time in the contest.
 
A couple of timely threes from Toronto's Sage Usher, however, helped the Blues make up most of that deficit in the final moments of the third, and the Gael lead was down to just three heading into the final quarter.
 
The teams traded baskets in the early part of the fourth until another Usher three put the Blues back in front by a pair with just under seven minutes left to play, prompting a timeout from coach Steph Barrie. The teams then went shot for shot into the latter stages of regulation, with the Blues continuing to break the tie and the Gaels evening the score on the next possession.
 
After Reid hit two free-throws to give the Blues a two-point lead with a minute remaining, the Gaels turned the ball over, which led to a missed shot attempt from the guests, giving Queen's an opportunity to tie or take the lead. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Tanner Graham missed a three-point attempt, which was gobbled up by the Blues.
 
After Toronto hit its two foul shots with about four seconds remaining, Singh missed a long three-point attempt as time ran out on the Gaels.
 
FINAL SAY
"I was disappointed with how we handled being up at the end of the third quarter," said Barrie. "We were up by 10 and they hit those two threes, and I thought that was a real swing point in the game. We have to find ways to be tougher and get stops in those possessions, and try to extend that lead. They took the momentum back at that point and did a good job down the stretch.
 
"We'll have to bounce back. This isn't the first time this team hasn't dealt with some adversity and losses. It is familiar territory to regroup and get back to it next weekend."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
7- There were seven lead changes between the Gaels and Blues, and neither team led by more than 10
4- Tanner Graham picked up his fourth double-double of the season
27- Both Queen's and Toronto tallied 27 field goals. Queen's was 27-of-64, and Toronto was 27-of-65
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels head to Brock and McMaster next weekend, and are back at the ARC on January 27 and 28 to take on Nipissing and Laurentian respectively.