Men’s Basketball (13-9 OUA)

Host York (5-17 OUA) on Wednesday February 22 at Montpetit Hall (SSN Canada)

The Gee-Gees men’s basketball team will host an OUA first round match-up with the sixth place York Lions on Wednesday night at Montpetit Hall after finishing the regular season in third position in the East.

The Gee-Gees won the two regular season meetings with the Lions, first taking a 92-71 victory in Toronto on January 7, and following up with a 92-61 showing at home three weeks later.

The Lions captured a playoff spot by defeating Queen’s 89-85 on the final weekend of the regular season. David Tyndale led the Lions in that important win, pouring in 38 points. Ottawa held the Lions’ leading scorer to 17 and 18 points in the two previous games, but know that he is a dangerous threat.

The Garnet and Grey will have to keep an eye on the entire York perimeter as the Lions’ next best scoring option, Richard Iheadindu, also attacks from the outside and has been gathering steam during recent games.

York earned two wins each over RMC and Queen’s during the regular season, in addition to one victory against the Toronto Varsity Blues.

For their part, Ottawa counters with the OUA’s sixth most prolific scorer, Johnny Berhanemeskel. Berhanemeskel lit up York for 27 points the last time they came to Montpetit Hall, and averaged 17.2 points per game over the course of the season.  As a team Ottawa finished the regular season with the second best field goal percentage in the OUA, 46.7 per cent (fifth in the CIS), and the third best accuracy from long range, 39.7 per cent (sixth in CIS).

The Gee-Gees also improved their regular season record from last season by two wins. The Gee-Gees faced Laurentian at home in the first round of the OUA playoffs last season and were victorious, eventually moving on the OUA Final Four.

Wednesday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be available on SSN.