MBB | Voyageurs Victorious on Kadre’s Big Night
The Voyageurs came out victorious against divisional rivals the Queen's Gaels by a score of 88-74 on Kadre Gray's big night.
It was a back and forth affair throughout the match. The first quarter itself saw eight lead changes as both teams battled for supremacy. The Voyageurs shot an impressive 60% from the field while their opponents shot an impressive 50.0% from the field as well. However, Landon Brickenden scored a jump shot in the dying seconds of the quarter to give the Gaels a one point lead. The scoreboard read 23-22 in favour of the Gaels and they were led by Cole Syllas and Brickenden with five points each and were followed suite by Luka Syllas and Ayden Adeyanju-Jackson with four points each. The Voyageurs on the other hand were led by Gaetan Chamand with seven points and Gray, Sam Ivey and Litha Ncanisa with four points each.
But, the second quarter was where the Voyageurs began to show their true class and the reason as to why they are the seventh best team in the country. They outscored the Gaels 21-16 on 41.2% shooting while restricting their opponents to 31.6% shooting. At the conclusion of the first half, the Voyageurs led 43-39. This lead was set-up by massive efforts from Haroun Mohamed and Curtis Gordon who scored eight and six points respectively and from tight defence by the entire team as they forced seven turnovers in the quarter. The scoring leaders from the Gaels in the second quarter were Brickenden with six points and Harry Range with five points.
By this point, the Voyageurs had found the ingredient of success against the Gaels and continued to their style of play in the third quarter as well. The Voyageurs even managed to stretch their lead to a comfortable 16 points late in the third quarter until Quinton Gray sunk a three-point bucket to reduce the deficit to 13 points to close out the third quarter. Kadre Gray was the leading scorer for the Voyageurs as he added another eight points to his tally while Ivey trailed closely with six points. Quinton Gray of the Gaels led his team with six points in the quarter and was followed closely by Cole Syllas and Louis Sujir with three points each.
The fourth quarter came to a nail-biting finish as the Gaels came roaring back. A Voyageur lead that was as much as 15 points with 8:37 remaining in the match, slowly began to shrink as the Gaels found their shot. With 5:43 left, the Gaels had cut the Voyageur lead to just five points but then Kadre Gray put his stamp on the match and went on an 8-0 run to put the Voyageurs back up by 13 points. But the Gaels refused to go away as the Gaels replied with a 5-0 run to reduce the lead to eight points. However, this run was broken Joseph Hlady who sunk back-to-back three-point buckets to put the Voyageurs up by 14 and essentially seal the victory. When the dust was settled, the Voyageurs came out victorious by a score of 88-74.
Leading scorers for the Voyageurs in the quarter were Gray with 12 points and Hlady with six points whereas the leading scorers for the Gaels were Quinton Gray with seven points and Range with six points.
It was a monumental night for the veteran Voyageur star Kadre Gray whose game-high 29 points helped him achieve 2,000 points in his University career and by doing so, he became only the fourth man ever to score 2,000 points in OUA history.
The Voyageurs will now rest and travel to Oshawa to take on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks tomorrow, February 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 pm.
Wali Khan