38 bench points, including 28 from Josh Wright would be the difference as No. 4 Ottawa Gee-Gees downed the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 80-72 in OUA men’s basketball action on Saturday, January 10 at Montpetit Hall in Ottawa, Ont.

The loss drops the Blues regular season record to 6-5 and into a third-place tie with the Queen’s Gaels. Ottawa pushes their record to a league best 9-1 as they keep pace with the No. 1 Carleton Ravens, also 9-1.

Toronto got off to a great start in this game, in what was a battle all night. The Blues finished the first quarter on a 6-2 run to take a slim four-point advantage into the second frame.

Ottawa gained momentum and would knot things up at 16 with under eight minutes to go in the quarter. Rob Paris (St. Catharines, Ont.) hit two of his team-high 24 points with less than three minute remaining in the half to tie the game again at 22 but Toronto was then held scoreless the rest of the way and the Gee-Gees would take a 27-22 lead into the half.

The start of the second half would be much of the same – a see-saw battle with neither team willing to give up or give in.

The Gee-Gees three-point shooting was the Blues Achilles heel in the second half as the host shot 75% from three-point range, hitting 6-of-8 from behind the arc.

Down by as many as 15 in the final 10 minutes of the game, Toronto put forth a valiant effort to get within striking distance but in the end would fall just short.

Nick Magalas (Burlington, Ont.) knocked down 16, while fourth-year forward Nick Snow (London, Ont.) tallied 13 and hauled in a game-high 10 boards for the Blues.

Wright (Utica, NY), a transfer student from Syracuse University, led all scorers with 28 points, Dax Dessureault (Ottawa) tallied 22 and nine rebounds and Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto) netted 13 points and eights rebounds.

The Varsity Blues are back at home next weekend, Jan. 16-17, to host the Queen’s Gaels and RMC Paladins at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.