Men's Basketball History 2017-2018
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Men’s Basketball History 2017-2018 Season Record: 6-18 (7th in OUA West) Playoff Results: DNQ There aren’t many nights off in the competitive OUA West division. The Gryphons entered the 2017-18 season ready to battle every game to lock up one of the available playoff positions, but they just ran into some bad luck along the way. Head coach Chris O’Rourke put out a well-balanced group, led by a quintet of fifth-year seniors in Taylor Boers, Jonathan Wallace, Andrew Grant, Drew Walford and Daniel Dooley. Those players were complemented by emerging talents like Banky Alade, local product Tommy Yanchus and a versatile class of recruits. Experience wasn’t an issue, though health was. The season started promising enough as Guelph was sharp but ultimately took two narrow road losses at McMaster and Windsor, before heading to Ottawa to face the powerhouse Ravens and Gee- Gees on back-to-back nights. There was relief in the home opener at the GGAC when Walford poured in 22 points to defeat York 87-72. The Gryphons suffered a gut-wrenching loss just before the Christmas break when Queen’s hit a buzzer beater to steal an 88-86 win in Guelph. A depleted team, hit by an assortment of injuries, found it hard to secure wins in the second half of the season. The Gryphons were still battling for a playoff spot when they experienced yet another heartbreaker. Yanchus was heroic at home against Algoma scoring a career-high 30 points, including two late three-pointers that gave his team leads. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds sunk a last- second three from the corner for an improbable 84-83 win. Guelph would score a season-high point total in a 100-86 win over Waterloo 11 days later before closing out the season at home against Western on Senior Day. While the Gryphons ended the year with a loss, the day was special as O’Rourke and the fans said an emotional goodbye to Boers, Wallace, Walford, Grant and Dooley, a group that set an example of how to work hard and represent the program with class. Bankole Alade 2L Daniel Dooley 5L Aaron Nugent 2L Rasheed Weekes 1L Taylor Boers 5L Andrew Grant 5L Craig Valeriote 2L Tommy Yanchus 3L Jake Chaput 2L Ben Mireault-Dibanda 1L Drew Walford 5L Emmanuel Chukwu 1L Kieran Naus 2L Jonathan Wallace 5L Head Coach: Chris O’Rourke Manager: Joshua Wallace Assistants: Shane Boscoe, Nick Pankerichan, Nick Rusich, Konrad Surma Trainers: Ashley Duncan, Vicky Mccray Strength & Conditioning Coach: Josh Ford Video: Sean Lopez 2016-2017 Season Record: 6-13 (4th in OUA Central, 13th in RPI) Playoff Results: DNQ The Gryphons men’s basketball team narrowly missed out on qualifying for the OUA playoffs in 2016-17, finishing 13th in the RPI rankings (top 12 make the postseason) with a 6-13 record during the regular season. After playing their first two home games of the season at the 60-year-old W.F. Mitchell Centre, the Gryphons officially moved to their new home court (the newly built Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre) on Friday, January 13, 2017 when they hosted the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gryphs would go on to post a 3-4 record in seven games on their new home court, with their first win in the new gym coming on January 27 versus Algoma. The Gryphons also sent their old court out in style with a A trio of Gryphons finished the season with double-digit scoring averages with Ahmed Haroon leading the way with 11.8 PPG. Fourth year guards Daniel Dooley and Taylor Boers were the other two players in double figures, finishing the season averaging 11.1 & 10.0 PPG, respectively. Last season’s leading scorer, Jonathan Wallace, finished the season averaging 9.3 PPG including a 20-point performance in the win over Algoma. Several of the team’s rookies impressed during the season, with Jordan Sobot and Tommy Yanchus each logging significant playing time in their first seasons at U of G. The Gryphons ranked 11th out of 17 teams in the OUA in scoring (72.4 PPG) while ranking 13th in points allowed (78.9 PPG) during the regular season. The Gryphs also led the OUA in free throws made per game (14.9) while ranking 4th in the conference in steals (8.8 per game). Bankole Alade 1L Daniel Dooley 4H Aaron Nugent 1L Jonathan Wallace 4H Taylor Boers 4H Kingslee D’Silva 2L Martin Popiel 5L Tommy Yanchus 2L Shawn Carey 1L Andrew Grant 4H Jordan Sobot 1L Jake Chaput 1L Ahmed Haroon 4H Craig Valeriote 1L Colin Corrigan 4H Kieran Naus 1L Drew Walford 4H Head Coach: Chris O’Rourke Trainers: Emily Carr, Rachel King Assistants: Nick Pankerican, Konrad Surma, Nick Rusich, Jack Beatty Analytics: Allan Zhang, Michael O’Rourke Strength & Conditioning: Josh Ford Team Awards Jack Tanner MIP – Tommy Yanchus Bill Dimson Memorial MVP – Ahmed Haroon 2015-2016 Season Record: 9-10 Playoff Record: N/A The Gryphons men’s basketball team fell just short of securing a playoff spot during the 2015-2016 season, with their postseason fate coming down to the final game of the year. The Gryphons entered their regular season finale versus then No. 7-ranked Brock needing a win and a Lakehead loss to grab the final playoff spot. While Lakehead did go on to lose that night to Windsor, the Gryphons lost 65-62 to the Badgers in what was the final men’s varsity basketball game ever at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre. Despite not making it to the playoffs, the Gryphons had several memorable moments during the 2015-2016 season. On January 15, 2016 the Gryphons picked up a dramatic 81-80 victory over the Windsor Lancers thanks to a buzzer-beating shot from Taylor Boers. In the team’s next home game (Feb. 17) the Gryphons would take down the No. 1-ranked team in the country by defeating the eventual OUA Champion Ryerson Rams 96-92. Third year guard Jonathan Wallace led the team in scoring with 14.2 PPG, followed a trio of teammates who also averaged in double figures in scoring in Daniel Dooley (12.7 PPG), Ahmed Haroon (11.9 PPG) and Taylor Boers (10.3 PPG). Ahmed Haroon led the team in rebounds per game (5.6 RPG) while senior Jack Beatty provided consistent play off the bench all season long (9.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG). As a team, the Gryphons ranked 9th in the OUA in scoring with 76.8 PPG. Jack Beatty 5L Daniel Dooley 3L Ahmed Haroon 3L Jan Schliemann -1L Jean-Leandres Beugre 2L Kingslee D’Silva 1L Nathan Klassen 1L Drew Walford 3L Taylor Boers 3L Michael Friesen 1L Kieran Naus - Jonathan Wallace 3L Colin Corrigan 3L Andrew Grant 3L Martin Popiel 4H Tommy Yanchus 1L Coach: Chris O’Rourke Trainers: Emily Carr, Josh Smith Assistants: Nick Pankerichan, Nick Rusich, Konrad Surma Strength & Conditioning Coach: Josh Ford Analytics: Allan Zhang 2014-2015 Regular Season Record: 8-11 (3rd in OUA Central) Playoff Record: 0-1 (lost to Lakehead in OUA preliminary round) 2014-2015 marked the first season in which the OUA implemented a new playoff structure for basketball. With the conference now broken up into four divisions, the top three teams in each division automatically qualify for the OUA playoffs. The Gryphons were able to secure a postseason berth after finishing third in the OUA Central Division at 8-11. The Gryphons were then re-seeded 10th out of the 12 playoff teams based on their RPI (ie – how they fared against other playoff teams during the regular season) and travelled to Thunder Bay to face seventh seeded Lakehead in the preliminary round of the OUA playoffs. The Gryphons dropped a 69-48 score line at the “Thunderdome”, putting an end to their season. The Gryphons featured two players who averaged double figures in scoring in second year point guard Daniel Dooley (12.6 PPG) and third year forward Trevor Thompson (11.6 PPG). Although the Gryphons did not have anyone named to the OUA All-Star team, they had several players put up impressive individual statistics: Daniel Dooley and Taylor Boers were the top two free throw shooters in the country at 91.5% and 90.5% respectively. Dooley also finished in the top 10 in the CIS in three-point shooting, knocking down 46.3% of his shots from beyond the arc. Charles Amponsah 3L Drew Clause-Walford 2L Andrew Grant 2L Martin Popiel 3L Jack Beatty 4H Colin Corrigan 2L Ahmed Haroon 2L Adeel Sahibzada 1L Jean-Leandres Beugre 1L Daniel Dooley 2L Love Joseph 1L Jan Schliemann 1L Taylor Boers 2L Cameron Elliott 1L Adam Kemp 3L Trevor Thompson 3L Michel Clark 5L Michael Friesen - Daniel Passley 1L Jonathan Wallace 2L Coach: Chris O’Rourke Manager of Operations: Mike Borlongan Assistants: Nick Pankerichan, Nick Rusich, Physiotherapist: Sam Austin Konrad Surma Trainer: Samantha Jacklin Strength & Conditioning Coach: Josh Ford Analytics: Allan Zhang Team Awards Jack Tanner MIP – Jonathan Wallace Bill Dimson Memorial MVP – Adam Kemp 2013-2014 Season Record: 6-16 Playoff Record: 0-1 The men’s basketball team finished their season with a 6-16 regular season record, good for the sixth seed in the OUA West playoffs. In the West quarterfinals, they ended their season and playoff run in a hard fought battle against the third-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks with a 94-83 final score. Two Gryphons were awarded with OUA accolades. Senior guard Zachary Angus was named an OUA West second team all-star, leading the team in points (12.5 PPG), rebounds (4.6 RPG), assists (3.0 APG) and steals (1.6 SPG).