By Eliza Nwaesei
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team lost 86-64 against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
In their last home game of the year, the fourth nationally ranked Bold seemed to lack a sense of cohesion and could not complete plays against the 10th nationally ranked Gee-Gees. In the end, their mistakes led to their biggest loss of the season so far.
“I think I try to make the game plan a little too complicated for our guys,” said head coach David DeAveiro. “If I could do it all over, I would simplify it a bit more. I think the game plan we put together was more for an experienced team like [Ottawa], so I learned a valuable lesson today to just keep it simple [to] who we are.”
This game featured familiar faces as the Bold went up against former teammate, Gee-Gees fourth-year guard Ankit Choudhary, who played for the Bold from 2021 to 2023.
“I had this game marked on my calendar for a while,” said Choudhary. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”
The first quarter started with the Bold winning the tip-off, setting the game into motion. Fourth-year guard Aaron Rhooms missed a jump shot three-pointer causing a turnover off the rebound giving the Gee-Gees their first points of the game.
Quickly following the first points, Gee-Gees fourth-year forward Brock Newton intercepted a pass from Bold first-year guard Maxime Louis-Jean, resulting in a breakaway and scoring the next two points of the game.
“I had this game marked on my calendar for a while”
With a back-and-forth game in the first quarter, Rhooms and third-year guard Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow contributed to the Bold taking the lead for spurts. Despite Rhooms putting up five points and Gilgeous-Glasgow putting up 14 points, they still couldn’t get enough to maintain the lead, as Ottawa brought the game back to 24-23 at the buzzer.
Going into the second quarter, the Bold started off slow. The Gee-Gees instead exhibit court harmony with their ball movement making good use of all their players on the court. Not only was ball movement a strong point, but the Gee-Gees put together tidy defensive efforts in the form of rebounds and turnovers. DeAveiro alluded to Ottawa playing better than a 10th-ranked team.
“That defence is really outstanding. 64 points, it’s a great job, and they’ve been doing it to everybody. We’re not the only team,” said DeAveiro. “They were just better than us tonight.”
After seeing no points added to the score in the first two minutes of the quarter, TMU called a timeout. However, the timeout saw little change in the Bold as it was followed by a foul against Choudhary. The distance in points began to grow, leaving a seven-point distance and a sense of disorganization from the Bold.
With the Gee-Gees pushing and picking up the rebounds, the second quarter ended with Ottawa in the lead 45-39.
The third quarter started off in the Gee-Gees’ favour as they produced a 10-point lead within the first minute. The Bold started to have issues with defence.
After collective efforts from Gilgeous-Glasgow, Rhooms, second-year guard Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander, graduate student Jahcobi Neath and fourth-year forward Elijah Roye, the Bold were able to protect their territory. However, shortly after the referee called a foul on Gilgeous-Glasgow, TMU’s defence seemed to fall apart in the paint, creating more scoring opportunities for the Gee-Gees.
With Choudhary leading with nine points in the quarter, his plays and shots ultimately helped to bring his team ahead. He contributed to their overall success with 20 points on the night.
“I just got to give credit to my teammates, like down the stretch we needed offence and they found me in the right spots, got me good looks and I knocked them down and we’re able to get the win collectively,” said Choudhary. “I did have my mind pretty focused on this game and wanted to win very bad, so that definitely played a motivating factor.”
The end of the third quarter saw the Bold lacking in defensive transition, a turn to individual play on offence and ultimately ended 68-54.
“We just went back to who we were and we’re better defensively”
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bold showed a change in defensive play, locking down the paint with Roye. When asked if there was a change in the line-up or a strategy, DeAveiro said that the better play was to go back to the basics.
“I went back to simplifying things,” said DeAveiro. “I complicated our defence too much, and in that quarter, we just went back to who we were and we’re better defensively.”
Although the defensive effort was prominent, the Bold were struggling offensively. With an equal defensive effort from the Gee-Gees, the Bold had many missed opportunities. This, along with six points including a swift three-point swish from Choudhary, resulted in the Gee-Gees building a 22-point lead, making the final score 86-64.
Nevertheless, DeAveiro has high hopes for the team following the winter break.
“We have January and February to keep going and getting better and I know we will be there at the end,” said DeAveiro. “We’ll be there competing in February, in the playoffs.”
UP NEXT: After the holidays, the Bold will take on the Carleton Ravens on Nov. 11 at the MAC. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.