Box Score Despite a career night from Christopher Barrett, the Varsity Blues men's basketball team fell 84-75 to the No. 9 Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, January 27 at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

Toronto got within three points late in the fourth quarter, but weren't able to get any closer. Their record drops to 9-9; however, still hold the final playoff spot in the OUA East division. On the other hand, Ottawa improves to 13-5 on the season.

Barrett, a third-year guard from Vaughan, Ont., went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for a career-high 19 points, while adding seven assists and three steals in the loss.

Fourth-year guard Sage Usher wasn't too far behind with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Reilly Reid and Nikola Paradina also hit the double-digit mark with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Ottawa's Calvin Epistola led the way with 14 points and Brody Maracle chipped in 13 points of his own in the victory.

A track meet ensued right from tip off as both teams drained over 50 percentage from the field. Usher led the way with eight points, while Barrett registered six points and dished out three assists in the opening 10 minutes.

The Blue and White's hot touch didn't stop in the second quarter. They opened on a 7-0 run to capture the lead and were able to hold on, heading into the locker room up 42-40. Led by Barrett, the team shot an impressive 44% outside and 54.8% from the field in the first half.

U of T got cold in the third quarter though. They combined to go 2-of-12, which allowed the Gee-Gees to rally off a 12-4 run to retake advantage 56-51 heading into the final quarter.

Toronto leaped out a 10-2 run early in the fourth to cut the deficit five points. They got as close as three points (71-68) with 2:36 left, but failed to complete the comeback.

The Blues hit the court again on Friday, February 2 when they head over to Ryerson to battle the Rams (12-5). Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. 

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