Box Score The Varsity Blues men’s basketball team fell 88-67 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday night (Jan. 13) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.

The Blues remain tied with the Ryerson Rams with identical 5-6 records for the third spot in the OUA East division.  The No. 1 Ravens held onto their perfect record (11-0) with an 87-56 win over the Rams tonight, while the Gee-Gees remain in second place with a 6-4 record.

Third-year forward Alex Hill of Toronto led the Blues with 19 points and was named the Varsity Blues player of the game, while Sean Nickel had 12 points and seven boards.  Toronto native Justin Holmes added 11 points and Andrew Wasik (Burnaby, B.C.) had 10 in the loss.

The Blues came out ready to go, outscoring the visiting Gee-Gees 16-7 through the first 10 minutes of play. Ottawa responded early in the second and brought the game within two midway through the frame. The Gee-Gees continued to pressure and built a 36-32 lead at halftime.

Despite some early pressure from the Blues, Ottawa held strong and went on a 13-2 run, thanks in large part to second-year guard Johnny Berhanmeskel. The Gee-Gees maintained a comfortable 10-point lead throughout the third and headed into the final frame up 11 (61-50).

Toronto attempted to rally, only to be answered by Ottawa each time. The Gee-Gees nailed five three-pointers in the fourth quarter en route to their sixth win of the season.

Berhanmeskel led all players with 29 points and added 10 boards for the double-double performance. Mike L’Africain had 16 points and Vikas Gill tallied 14 in the victory.

The Blues are back in action tomorrow night as they host the No. 1 Ravens at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. The game will be streamed live on SSN Canada through varsityblues.ca. Advance tickets are on sale: click here or call 416-946-3811.

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