Gryphon basketball men win pair over winless Algoma
GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons broke their six-game losing streak in OUA men’s basketball play with a pair of weekend wins over the Algoma Thunderbirds at the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre.
The Gryphs outlasted Algoma 93-87 Friday night and posted a 96-73 win Saturday afternoon.
Guelph Gryphons 93 Algoma 87 (Fri)
Guelph Gryphons 96 Algoma 73 (Sat)
Friday, the Gryphs built their winning margin in the first half before trading baskets in the second half. Guelph led 25-20 at the end of the first quarter and 47-41 at halftime before the teams scored 22 points apiece in the third quarter and 24 apiece in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Glanville collected 21 points for the Gryphs Friday while Brandon Halliburton came off the bench to add 16 in 15 minutes of court time. Carl Veltmann had 14 and Khalid Ismail had 11. Glanville also had six rebounds and six assists while Rasheed Weekes had five in his return to the lineup. Keenan Dowell had three assists and Veltmann had four steals.
Maxime Bellony had 28 points for Algoma while Robin Kniss netted 17, Vincent Falardeau 16 and Devin Miron 13. Bellony also had seven rebounds and three assists while Falardeau and Miron each had five rebounds and Peter De La Paz had two steals and Jaylen White had three blocks.
The Gryphs shot 46 per cent on field goals, 29 per cent on three-pointers and 75 per cent on free throws and also had 27 points off turnovers and 35 from their bench as well as 32 rebounds and 13 steals.
The Thunderbirds shot 47 per cent on field goals, 42 per cent on three-pointers and 77 per cent on free throws. They also had 14 points off turnovers, 13 from their bench, 27 rebounds and four steals.
Saturday, Algoma jumped ahead early as the Thunderbirds led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter before the Gryphs surged ahead 37-29 by halftime and stretched the lead to 64-49 by the end of the third quarter.
Glanville had 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the day he was honoured as the lone graduating Gryphon. Ismail had 19 points while Veltmann had 12, Dowell had 11 and three assists and Weekes added 10 points and had 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Thunderbirds had three players come off the bench to hit double digits in scoring as Roman Niro had 17, Favour Adekojo had 11 and Haris Assoua had 10. Starter Miron had 14, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Steven Kabongo had eight rebounds while De La Paz had three assists and two steals.
Guelph shot 46 per cent on field goals, 27 per cent on three-pointers and 65 per cent on free throws. The Gryphs scored 11 points off turnovers and 37 from their bench as well as 46 rebounds and seven steals.
Algoma shot 34 per cent on field goals, 30 per cent on three-pointers and 71 per cent on free throws. The Thunderbirds scored six points off turnovers and 38 from their bench as well as 41 rebounds and seven steals.
The two teams are in the basement of the nine-team West Division. The Gryphs are eighth at 3-7 while winless Algoma is ninth at 0-12. Top six qualify for the playoffs. Western Mustangs are fifth at 6-6, Windsor Lancers sixth at 5-7 and Waterloo Warriors seventh at 4-6.
The Gryphs have four games to go in their regular season as they’re to play the second-place Laurier Golden Hawks (8-4) twice and Western twice.
The Gryphs and Laurier are to play Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the GGAC and Friday at Laurier at 8 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal