Gryphon basketball men fall to Waterloo Warriors

GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons suffered their third consecutive loss in their season-opening homestand as they fell 81-69 to the hot-shooting Waterloo Warriors in OUA men’s basketball play Wednesday at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.

While the Gryphs outscored the Warriors by 10 points in the second half, they trailed by 22 at the halftime break.

Waterloo led 24-17 at the end of the first quarter, 49-27 at halftime and 61-47 after the third quarter.

Viktoras Nausedas had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Gryphs while Emmanuel Ansah had 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Dezayne Mingo netted eight points and four assists. Ansah and Eric Armstrong each had a block.

Stefan Djukic, Josh Akuamoah and Raf Llorin each had 15 points for Waterloo while Ethan Andrew collected 12 points. Djukic had 12 rebounds and Cristian Craciun had five assists. Llorin had four assists. Four Warriors each had a single block and four Warriors also had a single steal.

The Gryphs shot 34 percent on field goals, 31 percent on three-pointers and 75 percent on free throws, had 33 rebounds, 12 assists, two blocks, nine steals and five turnovers and also scored 26 points in the paint, 11 off turnovers, 11 on second chances and 17 from their bench.

Waterloo shot 57 percent on field goals, 39 percent on three-pointers and 46 percent on free throws. The Warriors also had 34 rebounds, 16 assists, four blocks, four steals and 13 turnovers and scored 52 points in the paint, seven off turnovers, four on second chances and 23 from their bench.

The Western Mustangs lead the OUA West at 3-0 while the Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo are both at 1-1. The Algoma Thunderbirds and Windsor Lancers are both at 0-2 and the Gryphs trail at 0-3.

The Gryphs and Warriors are to meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. at Waterloo’s Carl Totzke Court.

• Guelph Sports Journal