TORONTO, Ont. – A valiant effort from the Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team on Saturday night (Feb. 21) from the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto saw the Gryphons push the OUA's top-seeded TMU Bold to the limit. In the end, TMU was able to hold off Guelph in overtime, with the Bold winning 82-75 over the Gryphons in a memorable OUA quarterfinal showdown. Guelph came into the game as the No. 8-seed following their victory over the Windsor Lancers in the OUA Preliminary Round on Wednesday (Feb. 18) to earn a quarterfinal matchup with the TMU Bold, who finished the regular season with a 17-5 record.
The Gryphons couldn't have scripted a better start to the game, opening the game on an 11-3 run. Guelph would lead as much as 12 points in the middle of the second quarter. TMU would chip away at the lead throughout the game but the Gryphons held their resolve, leading for the majority of the night. After chipping away for the game, the Bold went in front 60-58 on the layup from Aaron Rhooms in the fourth. With TMU leading 64-59 with 2:36 left to play in the quarter, the Gryphons continued to show their resolve, clawing back with a layup from
Eric Armstrong before
Vito Albanese made two trips to the free throw line and made three of four from the charity stripe to tie up the game. TMU had the last possession of regulation as great defence from the Gryphons forced Aaron Rhooms into a tough, contested jumper for the win as his shot hit back iron and out as the No. 8-seeded Gryphon sent the game into overtime in a 64-64 game.
The five minute overtime period continued the theme of this tight, physical matchup between two teams looking to book their trip to the OUA Semifinals. The turning point in this 1-versus-8 matchup would come with just over three minutes to play in OT following the
Eric Armstrong basket that tied the game up at 66-all. The Bold would hit back-to-back threes as Aaron Rhooms and Deandre Goulbourne scored in consecutive possessions to give the hosts a 6-point lead. The lead would prove to be too much for the Gryphons to overcome as they played a tremendous game and pushed TMU to the limit but would lose in a tough one in overtime, 82-75.
This marks the second consecutive season where the Gryphons saw their season end at the Mattamy Athletic Centre to the Bold. Second-year guard
Jack Tunstill led the way for the Gryphons 17 points and 6 steals on the night.
Eric Armstrong finished with a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double,
Vito Albanese off the bench scored 13 points, including three clutch free throws late to send the game into overtime and
Emmanuel Black also finished in double digits with 12 points.
With the win, the TMU Bold sets up a third matchup with OUA Central division foe Brock Badgers in the semifinals on Wednesday. For the Gryphons, their outstanding 2025-26 season comes to an end where they've qualified for the postseason in three of the last four seasons and made it to the OUA Quarterfinals twice during that span (last appearance in 2022-23 season).
