In a battle for playoff positioning, the University of Toronto men’s basketball team fell 70-62 to the visiting Queen’s Gaels on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
Fifth-year guard Ryan Hairsine scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the 10-9 Gaels to a season sweep of the Varsity Blues – Queen’s won the first match-up in Kingston, Ont., 67-62, on Jan. 8th. The St. Mary’s, Ont. native was good on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Toronto guard Rob Paris of St. Catharines, Ont. was the team’s high scorer. The fifth-year veteran knocked down 17 points, had four rebounds and was named the Blues player of the game for his efforts.
With the loss, Toronto (8-10) is tied with Ryerson for fourth spot in the OUA East division, while Queen’s (10-9) solidifies their hold on third place in the East.
The game was evenly contested through the first two quarters of play and would remain deadlocked, 32-32, at the end of the first half.
The Blues came out of halftime ready to take the bull by horns. After a Mitch Ledger (Kingston, Ont.) and Paris exchanged three-pointers on the first two possessions of the second half, Toronto would gain some momentum when Nick Magalas (Burlington, Ont.) hit two consecutive jumpers midway through the third and looked to distance themselves with back-to-back threes with under two minutes left in the quarter.
The Blues found themselves with a slight six-point cushion, 52-64, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
As the teams found themselves deadlocked for the 11th time this game, 52-52 midway through the fourth quarter, it was Hairsine’s final three-pointer of the night with less than three minutes to play that was ultimately be the deciding factor of this contest.
Queen’s would go on an 8-2 run in the final two and half minutes to end the game and steal a win on the road.
Blues guard Magalas added 11 points and three rebounds in a losing cause, while Drazen Glisic (Sarajevo, BIH) had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with his six points.
A fourth-year forward, Leger led all players with 22 points and 13 boards. Rookie guard Chris Barret of Vancouver, B.C. knocked down 13 points and had four steals for the visitors.
NOTE:
London, Ont. natives Nick Snow and Pat Sewell, along with Glisic, Justin Holmes (Toronto) and Blues assistant coach Mike De Giorgio were honoured prior to tonight’s contest for their contributions to Varsity Blues Cheer Blue, Think Pink initiative in support of breast cancer research. All five guys raised money and rain in the CIBC’s Run for the Cure last October as part of a contribution to this weekend’s third annual Think Pink weekend.
The men’s basketball team is back in action next weekend when they host the York Lions on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Athletic Centre. Game time is schedules for 8 p.m.
For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.
