BARRIE, Ont. - The top eight teams opened play at the 2019 belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship hosted by Georgian College in Barrie with four quarter final matches on Thursday.
The reigning OCAA champions, the Seneca Sting used a high paced offence to open the tournament with an impressive 83-51 victory over the Redeemer Royals. Seneca's Nabil Ibrahim was named player of the game for his team after scoring a team-high 15 points. Foster Brown was named player of the game for Redeemer with 12 points.
In the day's second game it was the Sheridan Bruins pulling away late to defeat the Fanshawe Falcons 110-99. Sheridan's Kahleek Bakari-Whyte scored 25 points and was named player of the game. Fanshawe's Chris Parker did all he could for his team scoring a team-high 34 points.
It was a tight match-up between the Lambton Lions and Niagara Knights until a 36-point fourth quarter pulled the Knights away to a 96-81 win. Jordan McDonald had a 13-point performance for Niagara while Kardon Edwards had six points for Lambton, both were named the player of the game for their team's.
The host Georgian Grizzlies were in tough as they drew the OCAA West Division's first place team, the Humber Hawks. Humber was able to get ahead early and hold on from there in an 88-61 victory. Kevin Otoo was player of the game for Humber with 17 points while Tyler Vanessen was player of the game for Georgian with 15 points.
This sets up two semi-final matches for Friday night at the Georgian Athletic Centre. The Sheridan Bruins will take on the Seneca Sting at 6:05 p.m. followed by the Niagara Knights taking on the Humber Hawks at 8 p.m.
Earlier in the day the consolation semi-final matches will take place beginning at 1:05 p.m. with the Redeemer Royals taking on the Fanshawe Falcons followed by the Lambton Lions taking on the host Georgian Grizzlies at 3 p.m.
The championship wraps up on Saturday with the consolation final at 12:05 p.m., the bronze medal game at 2 p.m. and the gold medal championship final taking place at 5:05 p.m.
All Championship games will be available to be watched live via a web stream which can be found at youtube.com/GeorgianGrizzlies
News and up-to-date results can be found at the official 2019 belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship website.
Championship Schedule
Thursday, February 28th, 2019
Game # 1 - Quarter-Final
1:05 pm Seneca Sting vs. Redeemer Royals Score: 83-51
Game # 2 - Quarter-Final
3:00 pm Fanshawe Falcons vs. Sheridan Bruins Score: 99-110
Game # 3 - Quarter-Final
6:05 pm Niagara Knights vs. Lambton Lions Score: 96-81
Game # 4 - Quarter-Final
8:00 pm Georgian Grizzlies vs. Humber Hawks Score: 61-88
Friday, March 1st, 2019
Game # 5 - Consolation Semi-Final
1:05 pm Redeemer Royals vs Fanshawe Falcons Web stream
Game # 6 - Consolation Semi-Final
3:00 pm Lambton Lions vs Georgian Grizzlies Web stream
Game # 7 - Championship Semi-Final
6:05 pm Seneca Sting vs Sheridan Bruins Web stream
Game # 8 – Championship Semi-Final
8:00 pm Niagara Knights vs. Humber Hawks Web stream
Saturday, March 2nd , 2019
Game # 9 - Consolation Championship
12:05 pm Winner Game # 5 vs Winner Game # 6 Web stream
Game # 10 – Bronze Medal Match
2:00 pm Loser Game # 7 vs Loser Game # 8 Web stream
Game # 11 – Gold Medal Match
5:05 pm Winner Game # 7 vs Winner Game # 8 Web stream
Source: Georgian Grizzlies