The Ryerson Rams defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 85-78 on March 20 to claim the bronze medal of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Final 8 tournament.
After a regular season in which they were crowned the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference champions, Ryerson was the number one seed coming into the tournament in Vancouver. The Rams capped off their most successful season in program history with their second straight national bronze medal.
Dalhousie came strong out of the gate, with guard William Yengue scoring six in the opening quarter. Ryerson quickly responded, going on several runs throughout the opening quarter. The Rams finished the first leading 20-11.
Ryerson opened up the second quarter with a huge dunk by fifth-year guard Aaron Best. He and his backcourt teammate Adika Peter-McNeilly ran the Rams offence, with Peter-Mcneilly scoring six straight for Ryerson to widen the gap. Dalhousie’s energetic zone defence kept them in the game, however, and a Kashrell Lawrence dunk put the Tigers within 10 with under a minute left in the quarter.
“It’s always hard to play that back-to-back—especially for the bronze medal game—but our guys were resilient, they gave everything they got,” said Rams head coach Patrick Tatham. “Kudos to them—they did an amazing job.”
The third quarter began with the Rams up by 15. Ryerson shot 58.3 per cent in the third, and went into the final quarter up 63-49.
Jordan Aquino-Serjue of the Tigers hit a triple to cut the lead to single digits with seven minutes left and it seemed as if Dalhousie was coming back. The Tigers got within three points of the Rams off a triple by bench guard Jarred Reid with 38 seconds left leading Ryerson to call a timeout.
“Even though they were down 15, they found a way to claw back into it—they’re never dead,” Tatham said of the Tigers. “Just a great job by Dalhousie.”
John-Victor Mukama of the Rams air balled the potential shot, but his teammate Filip Vujadinovic grabbed the offensive rebound and drew the foul, making both free throws. Ryerson held their slim lead until the final buzzer sounded, and came out of the weekend as the bronze medallists of the CIS Final 8.
“It’s big for the program,” Peter-Mcneilly said. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, but to look back and say that Ryerson got a bronze medal two years in a row, it’s a big stride. Not just for the men’s basketball team, but the whole university.”
All five of Dalhousie’s starter scored in double figures in the losing effort, Lawrence lead the team with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Ryerson’s player of the game was Best, who had 14 points and six rebounds. Mukama added 15 points, and Peter-Mcneilly had 13.
The small group of dedicated Rams fans swarmed the court, celebrating their second straight year as a top three team in the nation.
Looking forward, Peter-McNeilly said the Rams will only look to improve on what they have.
“We lose Kadeem [Green], we lost Aaron [Best], but new guys will step up,” he said. “We’re on to bigger and better things.”
