The Brock Badgers men’s basketball team suffered a tough 79-54 loss to the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold in their home opener on Oct. 30 at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The Badgers opened their season on the road against the Algoma Thunderbirds with an impressive 100-53 beatdown, but a familiar foe was still waiting at their doorstep. It was just last year that the Bold defeated the Badgers in the OUA semi-finals, and a chance to qualify for nationals. TMU not only defeated Brock in the semi-final but also went on to win the OUA final just days later. Fast forward to their Oct. 30 matchup, and both teams had made significant roster changes.
The Bold lost the reigning league M.V.P., Aaron Rhooms, after the forward graduated and most recently played in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) for the Edmonton Stingers. Rhooms played an integral role under Head Coach David DeAverio as the team’s go-to scorer, demonstrating his professional experience nightly.
The Badgers had some moving pieces of their own after big man Michael Matas and forward Michael Okeke departed. The 2026-27 Badger team now relies heavily on its young players, something Head Coach Willy Manigat is no stranger to.
Unfortunately for Manigat, his team got off to a sluggish start, allowing the visitors to go on a 12-0 run to open the first quarter and ultimately set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Manigat said he thought the game got away from his team right from the first whistle, citing a lack of effort and preparation as the contributors.
“Right from the beginning, I don’t think we were prepared to compete and to play hard. You just have to be ready for war. You’re playing a division rival; that was the team you had a game for the semi-final to qualify for nationals last year on the road, and it’s never going to be easy,” said Manigat.
The rest of the opening frame saw the Bold take advantage of the Badgers’ mistakes. Whether it was capitalizing on turnovers or getting what they wanted inside, the Badgers didn’t challenge their opponents hard enough.
The score at the end of the first quarter was 20-9 in favour of TMU.
Around the midway point of the second quarter, the Badgers began to show some life. For a brief period, the team looked as though they had figured it out on both ends of the floor after a crucial 10-2 run highlighted by a nice display of jump shooting from freshmen Zach Hawley and Carter Ethier.
That Badger run proved to be short-lived after the Bold snuffed their momentum with a swift nine-point swing to close out the first half.
The Bold did a phenomenal job of making Brock uncomfortable by constantly running the break, pressuring their ball handlers, and not letting their scorers get to their spots.
The Badgers trailed 40-27 at half.
Coach DeAverio had his players ready to close the game. Fernando De Los Santos was giving the Badgers trouble all first half, but as the final two frames progressed, it turned into a torching. De Los Santos finished the game with 20 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. All but one of his field goals were from inside the three-point line, something you rarely see a player do against the Badgers and their live-with-the-three-point scheme on defence.
Brock gave up 50 paint points on Friday versus the Bold, something coach Manigat said has never happened before during his tenure with the Badgers.
“A lot of miscommunication; truthfully, what I deem to be not knowing what you’re doing. That’s the only way that on a basketball floor you give up 50 points in the paint in a 40-minute game. You’re never going to win any basketball game doing that,” said Manigat.
By the final buzzer, the Bold came away with a 79-54 win in a convincing road victory.
As much as Manigat was critical of his team, he was still optimistic about its future and how it can learn from this loss.
“We got some things to clean up; we have some things that are clearly confusing that we have to go back to the drawing board and figure out […] We will bounce back and get better,” said Manigat.
Next up for the Badgers, they’ll host the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Nov. 6 at Bob Davis Gymnasium in a tough test for a Badger team that needs to prove they can hang out with the top teams in the OUA.