TORONTO (February 21, 2018) - The Gaels pushed the No.8 Ryerson Rams through three-quarters, but a 35 point effort from the home side in the final frame sealed the Gaels fate, ending their season with a 103-79 loss.

GAME FLOW
The opening quarter saw an evenly matched pace with the Gaels chasing the Rams for the majority of the frame but never letting them out of sight. Down 18-10 Landon Brickenden (Summerland, B.C.) knocked down a three-point, and after a Rams miss, Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, Ont.) was able to clean up the glass and put back a layup to get the Gaels to within three 18-15. Queen's trailed 21-17 after the opening quarter.

In the second, Ryerson started things off with back-to-back threes with the latter coming after Manny Diressa found Filip Vujadinovic to make it 27-17 Rams. Mid-way through the frame, Tanor Ngom put down a two-handed dunk to make the score 38-23 Rams and force Queen's to call a timeout. The Gaels were able to respond out of the timeout and saw a seven-point run from Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.) who started with a three-pointer before getting to the line on two straight possessions. Tanner stayed hot for the Gaels nailing another triple with 1:09 left in the half, Shoveller followed suit with just 13 seconds left from beyond the arc, and the Gaels went into halftime trailing by just one 49-48.

The third quarter saw Queen's take their first lead of the game since the opening basket as Jaz Bains (Brampton, Ont.) drained a triple to make the score 58-56 Queen's. A pair of three-pointers from Diressa put the Rams back in front but heading into the fourth their lead was just two at 68-66.

In the fourth, the Rams offence came alive. Diressa started things off with a pair of triples, then scored 11 of the Rams next 14 points sending the lead to 88-72. The Gaels offence went cold in the fourth as they finished with just 13 points in the quarter. A pair of Ngom dunks sealed the game for the Rams as they took the win 103-79 to eliminate the Gaels from the playoffs and end their season.

BY THE NUMBERS
24 - Points for Tanner Graham to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks
50 - Percent shooting from the floor and beyond the arc for Ryerson
15 - Turnovers for the Gaels compared to nine for Ryerson
30 - Points for Diressa