Gee-Gees, Rouge et Or net huge U Sports hoop upsets in Final 8
By The Canadian Press on March 8, 2024.
QUEBEC – Brock Newton scored 23 points as the Ottawa Gee-Gees advanced to the semifinals of the U Sports men’s basketball Final 8 with a 78-71 upset of the third-seeded UQAM Citadins on Friday. The No. 6 Gee-Gees, appearing at the tournament as a wild-card team, went on an 11-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take control of the contest. Dragan Stajic added 15 points and four steals for Ottawa. Bahaide Haidara had a game-high 24 points for the Citadins. Ottawa will face the second-seeded Queen’s Gaels in the semifinals. The Gales prevented another upset by holding off the seventh-seeded Winnipeg Wesmen 77-76. In the other quarterfinals: ROUGE ET OR 75 VIKES 69 The top-seeded University of Victoria Vikes were upset 75-69 by the University of Laval Rouge et Or 75-69 on Friday night. Steeve Joseph led the winners with 17 points, while S. Tremblay-Lacombe added 14 and Ismael Diouf and Haris Elezovic each had 10. Diego Maffia had a game-high 26 points for the Vikes, while Renoldo Robinson chipped in with 16. Shadynn Smid had 11 rebounds. The Vikes’ 22-of-67 field goal shooting (32.8 per cent) was their lowest shooting percentage of the season. Laval led 36-32 at halftime and 56-49 heading into the final quarter. GAELS 77 WESMEN 76 Cameron Betts had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench to lead Queen’s. Cole Sylas had 15 points, including a bucket that put the Gaels up 77-71 with 2:41 remaining. But Queen’s failed to score for the remainder of the game and had to weather a Winnipeg comeback bid. Shawn Maranan had a game-high 19 points for the Wesmen but missed a key free throw with 39 seconds left. TIGERS 68 BADGERS 51 The Dalhousie University Tigers jumped out to a 21-7 first-quarter led and then cruised to a 68-51 victory over the Brock University Badgers. Malcolm Christie scored 26 points for the Halifax, N.S., based Tigers, while Jayden Parker chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds. Andrew Mckenna scored 12 points for the Badgers, who are based out of St. Catharines, Ont. Jordan Tchuente added nine points and 14 rebounds. The Tigers will meet the Rouge et Or in Saturday’s semifinals. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024. 24-23
