KINGSTON, Ont. (January 13, 2018)- The Queen's Gaels (9-5) pulled off the upset of the No.7 Ottawa Gee-Gees (11-3), in an electrifying 84-66 victory at the Queen's ARC.
The win is the first for the Gaels over Ottawa since February 8, 2008, when the Gaels defeated the Gee-Gees 64-48. Ottawa had won the previous 17 meetings plus an additional four exhibition games until tonight.
GAME FLOW
Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, Ont.) opened the game by knocking down a triple, soon followed by a driving layup by
Jaz Bains (Brampton, Ont.) to get the Gaels going early on offence.
Half-way through the first, the Gee-Gees managed to take the lead as they broke down the Gaels defensive play.
Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.) got himself on the board, with a put-back dunk late in the frame and a last-second half-court shot by
Sammy Ayisi (Toronto) put the Gaels within 12 at 26-14 to close the opening quarter.
The Gaels put together a large run late into the second, with points by
Harry Range (Ottawa),
Vincent Wood (Toronto), and topped off by a fast-break three from Bains to re-take the lead. Despite this, the Gee-Gees still managed to end the first half on top, 40-35.
Mike Shoveller opened up the third quarter by grabbing an offensive board and sinking the second-chance shot. The first five minutes saw the Gaels go on an impressive 17-4 run on the Gee-Gees, thanks to their excellent play on the boards.
The Gaels led by eight, mid-way through the third, forcing Ottawa to take a timeout. Bains was able to knock down a mid-range fade-away to make it a 10-point lead. The Gee-Gees slowly began to close the gap on the Gaels, but Elcock ended their momentum, with a quick jump-shot. The Gaels held the lead at the end of the quarter, 56-49.
Tanner Graham opened the final quarter with a step-back jumper, that was soon answered by a three from the Gee-Gees.
The Gee-Gees came out of a timeout, looking to mount their own run. They managed to cut the deficit to 10, with a big 3-pointer and followed that up with a layup.
Mike Shoveller shut-down that run with his own hook-shot. Both teams were trading blows, but a triple by Wood would force Ottawa into another timeout. The Gee-Gees would never recover, and Gaels walked away with the upset. The final score on the night was Queen's 84 and Ottawa 66.
BY THE NUMBERS
47%- The Gaels shot 47% from the field, and shot 41% from beyond the arc
22-
Mike Shoveller led the team in scoring with 22 points
12-
Tanner Graham led the team in rebounds with 12 on the night.
FINAL SAY
"For us, it was another opportunity to take down a top team. Whenever you play Carleton, you always learn something, and we learned that you have to play 40 minutes, and I think we played 40 minutes tonight." - Assistant Coach
Jermaine Small
UP NEXT
The Gaels are on the road facing the Ryerson Rams, on Jan 19th at 8 pm. Catch the action live on OUA.tv.
