KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team begins their chase for the Wilson Cup on Wednesday night when they visit the No.8 Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.

Tip-off is set for 8 pm in Toronto, and the game can be seen live on OUA.tv. 

The two teams met twice during the regular season with the Rams coming out on top 94-81 in Toronto in January and then taking down the Gaels February 10 by a score of 86-78.

The most recent matchup saw the Gaels make a late push. After being down 16 in the fourth, Queen's was able to get the game to within five, but Ryerson held off the comeback.

Tanner Graham was a standout for the Gaels in the two games with the Rams putting up 22 points and 24 points for the Tricolour.

DIFFERENT ENDINGS
It was a tale of different endings to their respective OUA seasons for the Gaels and Rams as Queen's struggled to close things out winning just two of their final nine games while Ryerson finished red-hot as winners of nine of their final 10 and five-straight heading into the playoffs.

The Gaels struggles saw them fall to the sixth spot in the East while Ryerson was able to come from behind to defeat Laurentian on the final day of the season to claim the third spot in the East.

BAINS VS DIRESSA
In his first year with the Gaels Jaz Bains has been a leader and one of the best guards in the conference. Coming to Queen's from the St. Lawrence Vikings of the OCAA, Bains has made the transition to the OUA with ease. He finished the season seventh in the OUA in scoring averaging 18.3 points per game and third in assists per game at 5.3.

Diressa had his best year as a Ram averaging 21.8 points per game which was the third-best mark in the conference. He had games with 50 and 41 points and scored 27 and 20 in the two games against the Gaels.

LEAD THE WAY VS CHASING
The Gaels were never out of either game against Ryerson this season and held a nine-point lead in the third quarter of their first matchup this season. For Queen's, starting strong will be key. In their first matchup the Rams came out with 11 straight points before the Gaels were able to hit the scoresheet then in Kingston Queen's found themselves in an early hole trailing 30-14 after the opening quarter.

In last year's playoff game at Nipissing, the Gaels were down nine after the opening quarter and 16 at halftime. The team chipped away at the lead in the second half and were left with a final shot to tie the game, but it didn't fall. A strong start could go a long way for the Gaels as they look to control the pace of the game.