SARNIA – There’s a reason why you play 40 minutes in a game of basketball.
For the George Brown Huskies, they saved their best basketball of the night for the second half. They erased an eight-point deficit at halftime to come away with an 82-65 win over the host Lambton Lions in front of a standing room only crowd inside the Lambton College Athletics & Fitness Complex.
The win propels the Huskies into the semifinals of the 2020 OCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Kel-Gor. George Brown will take on the Redeemer Royals on Saturday night, with tip off set for 6:00 p.m.
With the loss, Friday night marks the end of the 2019-20 season for the Lambton Lions on the hardwood.
Lambton came out of the gates strong, riding a wave of momentum from playing in front of a full house. With extra motivation at their backs, the Lions raced out to a 21-14 lead after the first quarter. Lambton closed the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a seven-point lead at the break.
The second quarter saw the teams go back and forth, with George Brown trying to regain momentum while the Lions were looking to put some separation between themselves and their opponents. With a five-point lead late in the second quarter, fifth-year forward Jason Watts hit a three pointer at the buzzer to stake Lambton to a 39-31 lead at the half.
While the first half didn’t go their way, the Huskies came out in the second half looking to get back on track. George Brown scored the first nine points of the half, erasing their eight-point halftime deficit and seizing all of the momentum in the process. George Brown would go on to outscore the Lions by a 34-8 margin in the third quarter alone to take a commanding 65-47 lead after 30 minutes of play.
In the fourth, the Lions tried to make runs and cut into the Huskies’ lead. Whenever Lambton made a run, George Brown had an answer for what the Lions threw at them. George Brown took down the host Lions in the fourth and final quarterfinal of the night, 82-65.
Christian Tabiri led all George Brown scorers with 19 points on the night off the bench. Kingslee D’Silva was named the Huskies’ Player of the Game after recording 14 points and 11 rebounds.
For the Lions, Jason Watts led all scorers with 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds, en route to Player of the Game honours for the host team.
George Brown and Redeemer will take to the court on Saturday at 6:00 p.m., with a berth in the OCAA Championship Game on the line.