BASKETBALL OPENS REGULAR SEASON WITH PAIR OF WINS

Centennial player goes for layup, contested by Huskies #21 Kingslee d'Silva.
Photo courtesy of Centennial College, by Nicole Ventura & John Theurer.

The Men's and Women's Basketball teams opened the regular season on the road with a visit to Centennial College on Friday October 18th to take on the Colts. Both teams would come away with a "W" behind balanced contributions on the floor in each of their matchups.

For the Women, the tempo was led by 2nd-year transfer Victoria Lawrence who finished the game with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes of court time. She also tallied two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot in her Huskies debut.

It wasn't however only a one-woman show, with George Brown showing a well balanced attack with four of five starters hitting double figures in scoring (Ciara Findlayter-Stephenson 19, Zae Sellers 15, Rachel Steer 11,). Coco Sauve would pull down 13 rebounds, six offensive, as she controlled the boards all night long to accompany her six points.

Jumping out to an early 22-15 lead after the first quarter, the Huskies would control that advantage through the remainder of the game taking it with a final score of 81-75.

"We earned a hard fought victory over a good Centennial team. I was proud of the composure we showed in a terrific environment", said Head Coach Warren Williams. "Coco did a great job on the glass, securing many tough traffic rebounds. Rachel was instrumental in the victory, playing vital minutes with key players in foul trouble and making a huge shot down the stretch. We will need to pay greater attention to detail though going forward for our next opponent."

In the second contest of the night, the George Brown Men exploded to a 30-13 first quarter lead behind nine points on three 3-pointers from Huskies sharpshooter Robert Ocampo and 3-4 shooting from both Naseem Barry and Christian Tabiri.

The Huskies offense would go cold in the second quarter though, getting outscored 19-8 by the Colts and closing the gap to only a six point George Brown lead.

After regrouping at half time the Huskies came out firing again in the 3rd, connecting on 60% of their 3-point attempts in the quarter and opening the lead back up to 60-48 going into the final frame. The fourth quarter was led by Haany Ahmed, who connected for eight points on 4-4 shooting while adding two rebounds and a steal. Ahmed would finish the night with 21 points, shooting 57% from the floor, with four rebounds and four steals.

A late surge by Centennial closed the lead to only six points again with under four minutes to play, but a huge 3-pointer by Tabiri to stop the Colts momentum gave the Huskies the insurance they needed to close out the game and seal the 79-68 victory.

Newly appointed Head Coach Jason Dawkins sees a lot of promise in his young squad that is returning only six of 17 rostered players from last season's team and adding seven rookies. "After a successful first game to open up our season, we are continuing to build on our chemistry as a team, while focusing our efforts and energy towards continuous improvement and consistency."

The Huskies will be hosting rival Seneca College in their home opener this Wednesday October 23rd at the Casa Loma Athletic Centre. Women tip off at 6pm, Men at 8pm. Or watch the action from anywhere on OCAA LIVE through our LiveStream Page!

** Please note that capacity is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis with no in-and-out privileges.**