GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's basketball program took a big step forward in 2018/19. Guelph was in position where a win in the regular season finale would lock up a home playoff date. The Gryphons fell just short of seizing that opportunity in an 81-75 loss to the OUA West-leading Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday at the GGAC. But Guelph will be playing postseason basketball regardless, with a road trip to Hamilton four days away.
 
Fourth-year guard Tommy Yanchus led the Gryphons with 18 points and 5 rebounds, with Rasheed Weekes chipping in 16 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals. Double-double machine Banky Alade came up huge again with 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, just 7 short of matching Laurier's team total of 24. The third-year man from Sherwood Park, AB entered the game atop the OUA with 11.1 boards per game.
 
It was telling that on Senior Day for a few Gryphon teams on campus, the men's basketball squad had no one on the roster departing after the season. The youth, and desire, has been on display all year long and after winning five of the last six games heading into Saturday's meeting with Laurier, Guelph had shown it was worthy of postseason basketball.
 
The team almost pulled out another one versus the Hawks, hacking into a 13-point deficit with a blend of creative offence and intense D to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes. Guelph trailed by four late when Alade was fouled in the post. He knocked down one of two free throws to get it to 77-74 Laurier.
 
But Hawks guard Ali Sow, second in OUA scoring with 26.6 points per game, took the ball to the hoop with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 5 points.
 
The play of the game came on a desperation heave by Kieran Naus from about 80 feet out on the final play of the third quarter. Naus swished his attempt to beat the buzzer, getting the hosts within three points at 62-59 and both his teammates and the GGAC crowd in a frenzy.
 
Despite Saturday afternoon's loss, the Gryphons still had a chance of hosting a playoff game. A win by Lakehead over Brock on Saturday night would have seen the Gryphons host their first playoff game in 10 years, but the Thunderwolves fell one point loss in a 73-72 loss to the Badgers, meaning Guelph finishes the season as the No. 5-seed in the OUA West. The Gryphons will travel to Hamilton on Wednesday (Feb. 20) for a playoff matchup with the Marauders. Guelph (11-13) and Mac (11-13) split their regular season matchups, but the Marauders earned home court advantage based on a better point differential in the head to head matchups.

 
Gryphon Take
"We were up and down. It became a grind game, we got a little fatigued and we turned the ball over too much. They got up 13 on us but we showed a lot of character. We fought back and got it to three with a ton of opportunities to get over the hump. The converted at the line at convenient times. It was that little mental hurdle we just didn't take advantage of."
 
"It's been a turnaround season for us. We've got a lot of new guys, and new guys playing bigger roles for the first time, really. One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to get a home playoff game. We took a huge step forward and we've almost doubled up our wins. It's been a year of growth for us. We're young in a sense, with Tommy and Kieran being fifth year next year. Now, we move on to the next part of the season. We're excited. We feel like we can play with anybody in the West." – Gryphon head coach Chris O'Rourke
 
The Record
Guelph is 11-13.
 
Next up
OUA Preliminary Round vs McMaster Marauders - Wednesday, Feb. 20 (***location TBD***)