Despite a strong regular season, the Badgers men’s basketball team have been eliminated from the OUA playoffs with a 52-44 first round defeat to the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
Georges Mfwamba Ngandu led the Badgers with eight points while Anthony Heyes and Jalen Janes each contributed with six, as Nathan Charles recorded a game-high 11 rebounds in the contest.
Points were hard to come by for both teams in the opening quarter as they combined for eight turnovers in the game’s first five minutes while only converting a collective five field goals on 25 attempts in the quarter.
Janes nailed Brock’s first and only made field goal of the first midway through the frame, as the Badgers shot 10 per cent from the field and a disastrous zero-for-seven from beyond the arc.
The silver lining for Brock was their ability to draw fouls, which led to a perfect six-for-six shooting from the free throw line as they were only down two, 10-8, after the opening ten minutes.
In the second, the offensive intensity slowly started to pick up with both teams scoring 13 points in the quarter.
Thierry Tshibola buried Brock’s only triple of the first half, which gave the Badgers their first lead of the game, 11-10, in the beginning stages of the second.
After the Ridgebacks regained control with a strong 38.5 per cent shooting in the second, their best statistical shooting quarter of the game, the Badgers responded with another six made free throws to preserve the two-point deficit.
Brock was down 23-21 at halftime, recording their lowest single-half point total in a game all season.
But the Badgers were quick to rewrite the narrative with an inspiring 50 per cent shooting rally in the third quarter.
Michael Okeke’s three-pointer two minutes into the half tied the game at 27, before back-to-back Ngandu layups gave the Badgers their first lead of the second half.
Paired with a woeful two-for-14 shooting quarter by Ontario Tech and four late Brock points from the charity stripe, the Badgers were up 39-32 entering the fourth quarter, which was their largest lead of the game.
However, the Ridgebacks had other ideas, knocking down a trio of crucial three-pointers in the latter stages of the fourth while silencing the Badgers’ attack for a pivotal nine-point swing.
In a span of two minutes, Brock went from being up five to down four with the Ontario Tech lead continuing to grow. In the final minute, the Ridgebacks made five free throws to close an 8-1 run and seal the victory, advancing to the second round of the playoffs while ending the Badgers’ season.
The Ridgebacks shot more efficiently than the Badgers, shooting 28.1 per cent from the field (16-for-57) compared to Brock’s 22.2 per cent (12-for-54) and making six three-pointers (21.4 per cent) in contrast to the Badgers’ three (15 per cent). The Badgers outscored Ontario Tech from the free throw line (17 to 14) and had the slight edge in paint points (16 to 14) and bench points (22 to 12).
With their home loss on Feb. 19, the Badgers conclude their 2024-25 campaign with a regular season record of 15-7, placing third of six teams in the OUA Central division.
For more information on the Brock Badgers men’s basketball team, visit gobadgers.ca.