CIS CORNER: GEE-GEES' NARROW ESCAPE SETS UP ROUND 3 VS. RAVENS

Toronto Varsity Blues coach Mike Katz was trying to explain his team's second one-point loss this year to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, 69-68 (box score) in the OUA East semi-final at sold-out Montpetit Hall, and stopped in mid-sentence.

Enough with the how and why. "It was a great game," Katz said. "I just think it was a great basketball game and sometimes that's what this is all about."

What else could he say? Save for a bad final possession -- Toronto didn't call timeout after getting the ball with 25 seconds left and settled for guard Mike DeGiorgio firing up a wild three that missed badly at the buzzer -- the Blues had Ottawa dead to rights for 39 minutes, drawing them into their kind of game -- rough and ragged, but certainly not dull to watch. However, Willy Manigat's pinch-hit effort at point guard and a tag-team effort to contain 6-foot-9 Blues star Mike Williams (who also had 18) kept the Gee-Gees alive long enough for fifth-year guard Alex McLeod to hit the go-ahead free throws with 54.9 seconds left. Fellow fifth-year Gee-Gee Jermaine Campbell played tight D on Williams and rebounded his missed jumper on Toronto's penultimate possession, and No. 6 Ottawa survived -- just barely -- to move on to next Saturday's division final vs. the No. 4 Carleton Ravens.

"Tonight was our night, who knows, it could have been their night," Gee-Gees coach Dave DeAveiro said after a game which had more than a dozen lead changes. "Another great game between Toronto and Ottawa. My hat goes off to U of T. They're a great team, well-coached, they played hard. The games are going to be like this for the rest of the playoffs."

McLeod's winning free throws capped a night that began with him looking kind of lost in the gym he's called home since 2002. He was scoreless in the first half, but put up nine points in the second.

"I was a bit nervous going in, which I shouldn't have been," he said. "In the second half, I thought, you know what, if this is going to be my last game here, I'm going to go out on my terms."

With point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe's sore left ankle and Toronto's defence limiting him to 10 points, Manigat took over at the point and produced a team-high 18 points and five assists with just one turnover (plus two steals) against one of the OUA's best defensive teams. The Samuel Genest grad had 13 first-half points to nurse the Gee-Gees to a 32-31 lead at the break.

"Josh is a little sore even though he had a heck of game," McLeod said. "He hadn't practised this week so we knew his cardio might not be where it usually is. Willy did a great job getting us through."

An unlikely lineup of Manigat and Gibson-Bascombe with reserves Dax Dessureault, David Labentowicz and Donnie Gibson also produced a 9-0 run that gave Ottawa a 58-50 lead midway through the second half.

"Whatever works," Manigat said. "Whatever combination works. That's the beauty of going 10 deep."

But as Manigat noted, "in this conference, you have to fight to the last second every single time." Outside shooting from the likes of Mohammed Safarzadeh (11 points, 3-of-4 from downtown) and Dwayne Grant pulled Toronto ahead with two minutes left. However, it made Williams a non-factor in the closing minutes his final university game -- and so did a revolving cast of defenders, most notably the 6-9 Dessureault.

"We kept throwing a fresh body on him to slow him (Williams) down," DeAveiro said. "Big Dax did a great job on him in the post."

Curtis Shakespeare also had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Ottawa (28-4 overall), along with a big-time block on Williams early in the second half. Ben Katz, the coach's son, scored 14 in his final CIS game. All five Toronto starters scored in double figures, but Manigat's big night gave Ottawa a 24-5 edge in bench scoring and that was the difference.

"When it comes right down to it, we had the last possession to win the game," Mike Katz said. "You can't really ask for more. Ottawa always seems to step up and make the big plays -- McLeod, (Gibson)-Bascombe. And Willy had a great game. He's capable; I've seen it before."

Carleton 68 York 57: Remember what Carleton star Aaron Doornekamp said after the Ottawa game about the Ravens not rebounding? Despite going up against 6-foot-10 Jordan Foebel, the Ravens devoured the Lions 44-26 on the boards, led by Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie (13 rebounds and 18 points). Stu Turnbull had a game-high 19, and the Ravens held York to less than 33% shooting to hold up their end of the bargain.

Related:
U of T-Ottawa liveblog, CIS Hoops.ca

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