The George Brown Huskies men's basketball team's title defence is officially over after dropping a 91-87 decision to the Redeemer Royals in the quarter-finals at home Saturday afternoon.
NOTABLE STATS: The opening eight minutes was a tight defensive affair between the two teams fighting for a spot in the OCAA Final Four. With the score at 16-14, Redeemer put together a 21-5 run in the late stages of the first quarter and early minutes of the second quarter to jump out to a 37-19 advantage. However, George Brown clawed back with an 18-9 run of their own to head into the half down 46-37.
The Royals brought the intensity back to the court in the third quarter. They opened the frame with a 15-10 run to push their advantage to 61-47. But once again, the defending OCAA champions were up to the challenge exploding for 23 points compared to Redeemer's 11 to only trail 72-70 heading into the fourth quarter.
The two squads continued to exchange blows to one another. Then, with less than four minutes left, Teshayn Gayle hit a jump shot to give the Huskies the 81-80 advantage, which was the first time they led since the opening minutes. Unfortunately for George Brown, Redeemer retook the lead shortly after and didn't surrounder it the rest of the way.
In his final collegiate game, fifth-year guard Gayle posted a team-high 20 points, while fourth-year guard Robert Ocampo chipped in with 14 points, a career-high five steals, five rebounds and two assists in the loss.
George Brown got their fair share of scoring off the bench. Fourth-year forward Julian Hinckson Jr., was a beast registering 17 points, eight rebounds and one block, while Fourth-year guard Tyvell Peters also dropped 12 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
It may not have been the result head coach Jason Dawkins was looking for, but he knows the program will be back in this position again next season.
"I want to applaud Redeemer coming here with a game plan and making us better today," he explained. "It's not the result we wanted, but I think the guy's mental health improves dramatically since they got to play the game they love and get back it. I wish we had a couple more games to play out and grow, but it was a shortened season. Overall, the season was positive for us, and we're going to learn from this and come back stronger next season."
