The Brock Badgers men’s basketball team hosted the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a quarter-final matchup on Feb. 21 in a game holding major stakes for both teams.
Brock was hot off a stellar regular season, finishing as the fourth seed in the standings, riding a three-game win streak. However, it was Ottawa that handed them their biggest loss of the season just weeks before their playoff matchup, in a 90-62 thumping in the nation’s capital. This was a revenge game for the Badgers, who needed to prove they could knock off the defending champions.
For the Gee-Gees, it was all about protecting the throne. Their 2025-26 team looked a lot different than their previous championship teams since two of their top players graduated. It was their nine-game win streak heading into this matchup that had fans assuming Ottawa would win, despite being the lower seed.
There was no doubt that the Badgers crowd was fully behind their team after senior big man Michael Matas opened the scoring for Brock with an emphatic and-one, getting his team on the board early.
Within the first four minutes, it was clear what kind of game this was going to be. Gee-Gee legend Brock Newton was touching the ball in the post every time down the floor, whether it was from one of his teammates or self-created. Newton has cemented himself as one of the league’s premier players since his debut, captaining Ottawa in two of their most recent OUA championship runs with outstanding leadership and dominant post-game. It was now or never for the Fergus native, knowing this game could be his last.
Newton was a force to be reckoned with for the Badgers in the first quarter, drawing fouls left and right, which forced Brock Head Coach Willy Manigat to make some substitutions early on.
Neither team could seem to muster anything on offence, demonstrating some very poor ball control with silly turnovers being thrown around. Halfway through the first frame, the game shaped out to be a rock fight as both teams were putting everything on the line on defence. It wasn’t until there were three and a half minutes left in the quarter that Badger guard Xavier Fearon made the game’s first three-pointer on the wing, which opened up the rest of the game for the Badgers.
By the end of the first 12 minutes, Brock managed to score nine points off Ottawa’s turnovers but still trailed 17-14.
Fearon opened the frame for Brock with a beautiful layup off a drive that brought the game back within three points. Ottawa struck right back with a punch of their own in the form of their first three-pointer from Owen Kenny, who was lights out all night from beyond the arc.
Before the game could get out of hand for Brock, senior guard Isaiah Bujdoso began to slow things down on offence, forcing Ottawa to play more to their pace. Bujdoso was a part of Brock’s 2021 OUA championship team, and his veteran presence showed with his ability to control his squad’s offence.
Just when Brock thought they were in the clear, Newton found himself in the mid-post area with the ball on a post-up, spinning off his defender and throwing down a huge dunk. This play ignited the Gee-Gee bench and temporarily swung the momentum of the game completely in favour of the visitors.
It wasn’t meant to be, however, as Badger rookie Birch Pockar followed that up with a nice left-hand layup inside. Shortly after, he drilled a pretty no-dip three-pointer to will his team back into the game after Ottawa looked like they were running away with it.
From that point on, Brock’s offence was in full force, highlighted by another Fearon bucket. This time it was a nice turnaround mid-range jump shot on the baseline over his defender.
One Nemanja Sarkanovic layup later, and the Badgers found themselves up 35-30 at half, led by Pockar, who chipped in eight points in the second quarter alone. For two teams who finished the regular season in the top ten in three-point percentage, they were living in the paint. Both teams combined to make three long balls in the first half.
The third quarter marked a new stage in the game, where the offences were flowing, and shots were falling at a more consistent rate. Bujdoso got into his bag just seconds into the third, drilling a long two-point jumper to extend his team’s lead to seven.
Brock’s highlight of the game came three minutes in when Michael Okeke came up with a monstrous chase-down block on Newton, sending Andrew Mackenna the other way for a dunk to give Brock their biggest lead of the game at nine.
Back and forth the game went. Ottawa stayed within five for most of the quarter, thanks to some clutch buckets from Newton.
Pockar and Bujdoso combined for 25 points by the end of the frame, but Brock’s lead was cut down to just three with twelve minutes to go.
Both teams wasted no time getting the ball inside, as Matas started with six quick points all in succession. Tesloch Luk was able to weather the storm with an and-one in between Matas’ mini-run to keep Ottawa within striking distance.
Slowly, the game went along as both sides sat in wait for the other to make a crucial mistake.
With seven minutes left, Pockar hit another clutch three to match the team high lead of nine, sending the Bob Davis Gymnasium crowd into a frenzy. Just moments after, Newton scored a difficult and-one, followed by an outrageous stretch of three long balls to give the Gee-Gees the lead with five minutes to go.
Not to be deterred, Pockar came back a minute later to drill a three of his own to knot the game up at 63 apiece. The Calgary, Alberta native was putting on a clinic in his first OUA playoff game, showing fans around the league that he is in win-now mode as a first-year.
The last four minutes were pure cinema. Both teams looked to get anything to fall, as Newton and Mackenna were the only two players to make a field goal until the last minute.
After a Pockar free throw and a Matas layup, Brock was just seconds away from closing out this brutal game.
Fast forward through all the free-throw drama, and the Badgers held on to a 69-68 win in one of the best games of the year.
A bittersweet end to the illustrious career of Newton ended at the hands of the Badgers. The big man did all he could for his team, finishing with 22 points and five assists to cap off his outstanding collegiate career.
On the home side, Pockar came into his debut OUA playoff game and dropped 21 points and six rebounds while nailing clutch shot after clutch shot en route to the victory. Don’t look now, but Manigat may have his next star player in the making if all things go to plan.
Other standouts included Bujdoso, who notched 11 points and five assists while running the offence for most of the contest.
Matas also scored 11 points and had five rebounds, keeping his collegiate playing career alive with some nice stretches of scoring throughout the game.
The Badgers return to the semi-finals after a year off to face the number one-ranked TMU Bold in Toronto. Brock got the upper hand on the Bold in both of their regular-season meetings this year, but Aaron Rhooms has had an M.V.P. season, turning his game up a notch in the clutch.